After arrest on CCRI campus, Woonsocket man held without bail
Junior Sage is charged with illegal possession of a firearm after being convicted of a crime of violence, carrying a pistol without a license, four counts of felony assault, disorderly conduct and obstruction of a police officer.
Sage, who carried knives and an Airsoft-style pistol, was at the center of a disturbance on a college-bound transit bus on Thursday before he stepped off the transport at CCRI, police say.
Two witnesses told Lincoln police detectives that Sage had threatened to "blow their heads off," Lincoln police Detective Lt. Bradley Stewart told Judge Brian A. Goldman.
Sage was carrying an Airsoft-type pistol and a knife with a blade longer than 3½ inches, Stewart said.
Airsoft pistols are designed to fire plastic projectiles for sport or different types of firearm training.
The guns can shoot metal, Stewart told Goldman.
The judge set Sage's bail at $75,000 with surety. A defendant must pay 10 percent of that amount in cash or the full amount in property to win release.
Goldman referred Sage to the public defender's office, ordered mental health counseling and imposed a no trespass order.
Later, however, Sage appeared before Judge Kevin F. McHugh, who determined that he had violated his probation in a different case.
McHugh ordered Sage held without bail. The 2023 case involved reckless driving and prohibited possession of a weapon other than a firearm.
A report to police dispatchers triggered a response to the campus at about 12:30 p.m.
About 400 faculty, staff and students are on the campus at that time of day, according to CCRI spokeswoman, Amy Kempe.
The detectives arrested Sage near the bus stop. The emergency forced college security to issue a "Shelter In Place" order on the CCRI campus and administrators at other nearby schools took the same approach as a precaution.
In a letter to the college community on Friday, CCRI's interim president, Rosemary A. Costigan, acknowledged that what happened Thursday was "deeply unsettling" for many.
Costigan said she had asked state police to review the case, assess public safety measures and provide recommendations, if needed, to strengthening security protocols on all four campuses.
"We are committed to learning from this incident and strengthening our emergency preparedness," Costigan said.
State Rep. William W. O'Brien, a Democrat who represents North Providence, in the General Assembly, renewed his call for the enactment of a law that would arm campus security on the CCRI campuses as well as the campus at Rhode Island College.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Junior Sage, who triggered CCRI's 'shelter in place' held without bail
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