UPDATE: Late Night Laser Pointer Shines Bad Light on Owls

September 15, 2015 Matt Anthony Rego News

UPDATE–09/16/2015 1:30PM

PHILADELPHIA, PA–Lt. John Stanford explained the situation from the Philadelphia Police Department’s perspective, “Lt. Bonk was in the helicopter but not in operation of the aircraft… A light had shined on the aircraft twice and drew his and the pilot’s attention. By the time they looked to find the the source they could not pinpoint the user.”
Stanford explained by that point, Bonk was frustrated by the alleged user of the laser. Bonk took to twitter to draw attention to the incident and its serious nature. Bonk’s following tweet, posted below, said that he did not plan on pursuing any suspects. Stanford clarified that PPD is, in fact, pursuing the matter and investigating the situation; he stood by the Lieutenant’s tweet and explained that Bonk meant that because they could not pinpoint the user, the team was not ready to enter the dorm.
If brought to justice the attacker may face punishments from the university as well as the federal government. According to Stanford, the crime is a federal offense which can be punishable with a hefty fine or jail time.
The Philadelphia Police Department and the Temple Police Department are open to collaborating on the investigation, with the possibility of bringing in other levels of law enforcement. As of now, there have been no arrests in connection with the incident which occurred Monday night.

 

09/15/2015

PHILADELPHIA, PA–An unknown Temple student triggered what could have been a disaster last night around 11:30. While a Philadelphia police department helicopter flew past the dorm, a student shined a laser pointer onto the aircraft.

Lieutenant David Bonk of the PPD’s aviation unit tweeted a photo of what appears to be a red light shining from the top floor of Morgan Hall North. He said that shining lasers at aircrafts is illegal. In the tweet, he tagged the university’s official twitter account, the Temple Police Department, and one of Temple’s criminology professors.

The resident of Morgan Hall North, Temple University’s defining high rise dorm, known for its unmistakable light up Temple T logo that can be seen from city hall, is still yet to be defined. In a later tweet replying to a reporter, Lt. Bonk stated that the Philadelphia Police Department will not be pursuing the individual.

Campus police did not hear about the situation until the morning after while scanning through the news. Despite the situation not being an emergency, Temple Police are approaching the matter sternly.

“Its a serious issue regarding the aircraft. A lot of damage could have come from it,”  said Charles Leone, Temple Campus Police’s Executive Director.

Leone explained, as a university institution, the campus police will do their best to educate students and on-campus residents on the dangers of disrupting aircrafts and vehicles.

Temple Housing and Residential life has yet to take any further action regarding the incident. If an investigation were to take place where an individual were to be found and brought to justice, the punishment could be anything from a fine, to a suspension, to an expulsion from the university, according to Leone.

Though the nobody was harmed, the incident has been picked up by several local news sources and is continuing to make its way around the internet. You can follow @templeupdate on Twitter for updates as the story develops.

 

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