Former student brings assault rifle concealed in guitar case to Seattle Central College, school says

Convicted felon Michael Jared Harris was arrested for allegedly bringing an assault rifle, hidden in a guitar case, onto the Seattle Central College campus Wednesday afternoon.

Kevin Kiso of Seattle told KIRO 7 he feared the worst when the 34-year-old Harris showed him the weapon. “He kind of opened the guitar case up, and I saw what was a very dangerous weapon,” Kiso said Thursday. “The worst thing you can imagine is to see someone with a weapon in a guitar case, in a cafeteria.”

A Seattle Police report described the weapon taken into evidence as an “assault rifle.” Kiso notified security and Harris was arrested under the stairs of the campus atrium.

On Thursday, Harris waived his right to appear in court where his public defender said Harris is homeless. Judge Anne Harper set his bail at $100,000.

Seattle Central sent an email to staff, students and faculty Thursday notifying them about what happened. However, Wednesday wasn’t the first time Harris has visited the Capitol Hill-area college.

“He has been a regular presence on campus,” David Sandler, SCC’s director of communications said, “but he hasn’t caused any trouble in the past.” Sandler confirmed Harris had ammunition for the weapon when he was arrested, but Sandler didn’t know whether the rifle was loaded.

Sandler said Harris is a former Seattle Central student who made no threats leading up to his arrest.

According to King County Superior Court documents, Harris is a convicted felon --- prohibited from having weapons. During the suspect’s bail hearing Thursday afternoon, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney MacKenzie Brown said Harris has significant substance abuse problems and called bringing a rifle onto a college campus “a substantial public safety concern.”

According to Kiso, Harris was acting “bizarre.”

“The things that flashed through my mind were the numerous shootings across the country due to unstable people with weapons in their possession,” he said.

Sandler of SCC told KIRO 7, 45 minutes passed between the time the weapon was reported to campus security and Harris’ arrest.

He said the campus has a Seattle Colleges Alert System that was not activated, even though Harris was believed to have a weapon and ammunition.  Why the alert system wasn’t deployed to notify faculty, staff and students about the potential danger is currently being investigated, according to Sandler.

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