Court dates set for alleged BB gun shooters; Judicial Affairs already has made judgment

By DAVID THOMAS

Court dates have been set for the three NIU students who allegedly fired a BB gun from the second floor of their Phi Sigma Kappa house.

Andrew J. Blunier, 19, Zachary R. Jaydos, 19, and Alberto Saldana, 20, will appear in court Dec. 19 at the DeKalb County Courthouse on charges of reckless conduct, said Sgt. Tom Tetit of the DeKalb Police. When in court, the students will be told of the charges against them and will enter their plea.

Reckless conduct is a class A misdemeanor, equating to a maximum $1,000 fine and one year in jail if the students are found guilty.

The incident occurred on Nov. 21, when two students standing at a Huskie Bus Stop near 1300 Blackhawk Drive were struck with pellets fired from the gun. One student was hit in the back of the neck, causing some minor bleeding. The other was hit in the shoulder, with no damage done to himself nor his jacket.

Brian Hemphill, vice president of student affairs, said Judicial Affairs has made progress on the case, but he cannot comment further.

“The university has moved forward with administrative hearings, but cannot comment on the outcome of those hearings,” Hemphill said, elaborating that he cannot state whether or not the students were suspended or fined. Hemphill said, however, that some sort of judgment was made.

Michael Carey, executive director of the national chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa, said the three students are temporarily suspended pending the national fraternity’s investigation. Carey said that, to his knowledge, the students are not living in the house.

Carey said he was “fairly disappointed” with the students. He also said that this investigation is only focused on the students.

“I definitely see this as an issue with three members at Northern Illinois and not with the chapter as a whole,” Carey said.

Depending on the findings of the investigation, the three students could be expelled from the fraternity. Although he admitted that expulsion was the extremest of options, he said, “this is a very serious situation, and we’re treating it as such.”