STUDENT, VEHICLE IN QUAD CAUSE UNRESTArchitecture student Storm Erie was apprehended Feb. 23 after he drove his Mercedes-Benz into the Quad and unloaded an assortment of items — including a gas can, a djembe, a set of blueprints and a bladed-gardening tool.LSU Police Department responded to calls describing “an illegally parked car with a gas can on the top” in the Quad, according to Sgt. Kevin Scott, LSUPD spokesman.Students said Erie was speaking and acting irrationally on the scene.”He had music playing, but he wasn’t screaming at anybody or threatening anyone,” said Rebecca Giller, animal sciences graduate student. “He wasn’t saying anything.”Other students were more concerned about their safety.”I really thought he was going to start shooting or something,” said Kandice Tyler, psychology junior, who saw the suspect drive his car into the quad.Scott said Erie was taken into custody and “transported voluntarily” by Baton Rouge EMS for medical review.Following the incident, many witnesses felt the police response to the potentially dangerous situation was too slow.LSUPD opened an internal investigation into the response. Following the investigation, LSUPD Spokesperson Blake Tabor said the department was satisfied with the response. Telephone and radio recordings indicate police reached the Quad four minutes and 51 seconds after the first report and took about 17 minutes to apprehend Erie.No charges have been filed against Erie and his motivation remains a mystery. Erie was never charged with a crime for the incident and has since returned to the University.
STUDENT LEAPS FROM LIFE SCIENCES BUILDINGCampus stirred from tragedy on the morning of March 15 when passers-by found the body of physics and astronomy graduate student Sarvnipun Chawla on the concrete outside the Life Sciences Building.Though the East Baton Rouge Parish coroner didn’t rule the incident a suicide until the next day, students and faculty spoke widely about it and mourned his death.”I would like to extend my condolences to Sarvnipun’s family, friends and co-workers, as well as to the entire LSU community,” Chancellor Michael Martin wrote in a March 15 broadcast e-mail.Chawla showed signs of depression in the weeks leading up to his death, said A. Ravi P. Rau, one of his physics professors. “I knew he had been having personal difficulties at home,” Rau said. “He talked with me and his other colleagues about it.”Rau said Chawla’s distress was related to his marital problems, which Rau believed to be a divorce.”His mother came in from India about three weeks [before the incident] because of what he was going through,” Rau said. “We knew he was in distress, but this was a complete surprise.”A memorial service was held March 23 at Resthaven Gardens of Memory.Staff writers Sarah Eddington and Xerxes A. Wilson contributed to this report.
 
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Contact Adam Duvernay at [email protected]