| Probable cause determined, bond reduced for Venkatramolla |
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| Written by Jaime Baranyai | |
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The University of Missouri-Rolla student who threatened to destroy the campus’ Civil Engineering Building last month sat in the courtroom expressionless while he listened to law enforcement officers testify about the events of Feb. 27. Sujithkumar Venkatramolla, a 22-year-old graduate student from Nazambad, India, has been charged with one count of making terrorists threats, one count of making a false bomb threat, one count of armed criminal action, one count of resisting arrest and two counts of first degree assault on a law enforcement. The charges stem from the Feb. 27 incident when he brandished a hunting knife, claimed to have a bomb and anthrax in his possession and said he was going to destroy the Bulter-Carlton Civil Engineering Building. At Venkatramolla’s preliminary hearing at the Phelps County Courthouse Friday morning, 25th Judicial Circuit Associate Judge Division I & Probate Ronald D. White determined there was probable cause that Venkatramolla committed a felony crime. That being the case, Venkatramolla could face a trial. His arraignment has been set for 1 p.m. on April 2. Probable cause was determined from three key witnesses Phelps County Prosecuting Attorney Courtney George called to the stand. Sgt. Jim Harman of the University of Missouri-Rolla Police Department was first to testify. Harman was one of the first officers on scene at the Civil Engineering Building at approximately 2:25 a.m. on Feb. 27. “I originally got a call that there was someone in the Civil Engineering Building [Room 117] who had a knife, a gun, some kind of powder and was talking about destroying a target at 8 a.m. that morning,” Harman told the courtroom Friday. He then called two other campus police officers for assistance. Upon arriving at the Civil Engineering Building, officers found a four-page letter outlining certain “missions” and a clear plastic bag that contained a white powdery substance. Harman said the note contained references to suicide. Venkatramolla was then located in the laboratory portion of Room 117. He had a hunting knife in one hand and was holding a blue drawstring bag in the other. He was screaming that he had a bomb, according to Harman. “We kept telling him to put the knife and the bag down, but he just kept screaming, ‘No,’” Harman said. “He kept waving the knife saying, ‘I have a bomb. I want to die, just kill me. Just shoot me.’” When Venkatramolla refused to calm down, officers prepared to use a taser gun to subdue him. He continued to wave the gun, lunge forward and then jump back, and say he had a bomb. When Venkatramolla raised the knife and appeared he was going to throw it at an officer, Harman tased him. But only one of the taser darts hit him and Venkatramolla was still holding the knife and the bag. Venkatramolla was tased again and then dropped the knife. He fell against a table and stool in the laboratory and eventually to the ground. Officers then struggled to get Venkatramolla in handcuffs. “He was still screaming, ‘You’ll have to kill me, you’ll have to kill me,’ and refused to comply with any of our requests,” Harman said. “We had to use another tase to get his hands behind his back to handcuff him.” Once handcuffed, Venkatramolla was escorted out of the building while Harman stayed to search for evidence. Along with the four-page letter he found an area plan of the Civil Engineering and a campus map. He also found the knife to wrapped in a few layers of clear packing tape, but the tip of blade was still exposed. “I didn’t do anything with the evidence at that point because other law enforcement agencies were being called in to test it,” Harman said. “The white powdery substance had to be tested because Venkatramolla had made a reference to it being anthrax.” After being quarantined in the Civil Engineering Building for a few hours, the officers, along with Venkatramolla and the other people who were in the building at the time of the incident, were moved to the Physics Building. During that time, Venkatramolla apologized to law enforcement officers for causing so much trouble and said the white powdery substance was an energy drink. It was later determined it was sugar. University of Missouri-Rolla Police Officer Shawn Wright then took the stand, reiterating much of what Harman had already said. “When we approached him [Venkatramolla], he was holding a big buck knife in one hand and a blue drawstring bag in the other,” Wright said. “He kept saying he had a bomb and that everyone was going to die. He also kept asking us to kill him and was violently waving the knife.” Wright said no matter what officers said to Venkatramolla, his only response was: “Kill me. I want to die. Shoot me. I have a bomb. I’m going to blow this place up.” He just kept repeating those phrases over and over, according to Wright. Wright testified that he too thought Venkatramolla was going to throw the knife at one of the officers right before Harman tased him. He explained the details of what took place next much like Harman did. After Venkatramolla was escorted from the building, Wright then searched the blue drawstring bag. Instead of a bomb, he found clumps of soil in the bag. Capt. Mark Kearse, interim police chief of the Rolla Police Department, was called to the stand next. He explained his involvement in the incident and confirmed that several law enforcement agencies from around the state were called for assistance. He also testified to the fact that the university first canceled classes until 10 a.m. that day and then later shut down the university for the entire day. “We had the words bomb, anthrax and terrorist threat,” Kearse said. “We took the proper precautions and shut down the university because of safety concerns.” After the witnesses gave their testimony, Chad Picker, Venkatramolla’s public defender, tried to get five out of the six charges dismissed. Picker said the charge of making terrorists threats was the only one there was probable cause on. But George stepped up and made a rebuttal, saying the testimony heard in the courtroom proved probable cause for all six of the charges against Venkatramolla. Ultimately, the judge sided with George. White also reduced Venkatramolla’s bond from $250,000 to $100,000. Reprinted from the Rolla Daily News. |
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