UVA Gun Scare

Associated Press
Published: April 25, 2007

A University of Virginia student has a June 1st court date after police say he used a BB gun during a film project on campus this week.

Christopher Allen Smith appeared in court today and was released on 10-thousand dollars bond. He is charged with one count of brandishing a firearm and faces up to a year in jail and a 25-hundred dollar fine. He also could face university penalties.

University police say Smith was in a courtyard Monday when he flashed the imitation .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol. The incident came just a week after a disgruntled student shot 32 students before killing himself at Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg.

Police say they received several 911 calls reporting a man with a gun in the area around 11 pm. When they arrived, police say students told them the 19-year-old was in a group acting out a robbery scene.