The university released sparse details Thursday regarding a formerly enrolled MSU student arrested on terrorism-related charges.
Primarily blacked-out copies of police reports regarding MSU’s police investigation were given to The State News in response to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted Oct. 28.
Zachariah M. Aslam, 17, was arrested Oct. 20 after police were informed he was reportedly making threats. Friends said he talked about jumping off the Chemistry Building with an explosive device attached to him.
Aslam was arraigned Oct. 23 in East Lansing’s 54-B District Court and is being held in Ingham County Jail on a $150,000 bond.
The information provided by the university includes the initial incident report, search warrant and supplemental information from police, in which all interviews and names of some witnesses were withheld.
The reports indicate police contacted Aslam on Oct. 14 on mental health concerns prior to his incarceration.
Aslam was deemed by police to have a mental illness, and, as result of the illness, reasonably could be expected to seriously injure himself or other people within the near future, the reports stated. The reports also suggested Aslam was believed to have acted or made significant threats dangerous to himself or those around him.
Police searched transactions made on Aslam’s MSU username and information for a specific IP address between 4:26 p.m. and 5:20 p.m. Oct. 20. Included in the supplemental information were the definitions of sociopath and antisocial personality disorder and information about hydrogen cyanide.
MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor directed questions to MSU’s FOIA Office.
MSU FOIA Officer Radhika Pasricha could not be reached for comment.
Aslam was scheduled to appear in East Lansing’s 54-B District Court in December for a preliminary examination.
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