Trespasser at Segregated, Black Texas Southern U., Dontelly Dickerson, 21, Allegedly Illegally Stays in Dorm and Shoots at Someone

in Campus Parking Lot
By Nicholas Stix

Note that the Houston Chronicle headline is misleading, in referring to suspect Dontelly Dickerson as a “student.” Dickerson was a student, alright, at Houston Community College, but at TSU, he was just a trespasser.

As usual, there are huge gaps in the story below, gaps which are made more striking by the poor writing.

The suspect, a Houston Community College student, allegedly brought a semi-automatic handgun with ammunition onto the campus during a disturbance in a parking lot.

Was that really the causality? Did Dickerson allegedly respond to a “disturbance” in the parking lot by getting his gun, or was he the disturbance? Did Dickerson get into a beef with someone in the parking lot, and pull the semiautomatic he was already allegedly carrying, and allegedly fire off a few rounds at the guy he had the beef with? That’s assuming, of course, that he was allegedly firing at a man, which may be assuming too much, on my part.

Actually, the Houston Chronicle reporter, Erin Mulvaney, doesn’t say that Dickerson fired at anyone, but he was charged with “aggravated assault.” I’ve never heard of someone being charged with that felony in conjunction with firing a gun, who hadn’t allegedly fired at someone.

The campus police department recovered the weapon in the campus domitory [sic] where Dickerson fled during its investigation last week.

That should probably read,

During its investigation last week, the campus police department recovered the weapon in the campus dormitory where Dickerson had fled, after the shooting.

I doubt that Dickerson fled “during” the kampus kops’ investigation.

Note, too, that Mulvaney writes, as if it were an afterthought, "The TSU campus police also charged the suspect with aggravated assault." That was the primary charge, not “exhibition of firearms”!

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Crime Scene

3100 Cleburne Street
Texas Southern University
Houston, Texas 77004

Student arrested after shots fired on TSU campus
By Erin Mulvaney
Houston Chronicle

A 21-year-old is in custody after allegedly bringing a firearm to Texas Southern University’s campus and firing several shots into the air, court records show.

Dontelly Dickerson is accused of exhibition of firearms for the incident on campus on April 17, according to court documents from the Harris County District Court.

The TSU campus police also charged the suspect with aggravated assault. The suspect, a Houston Community College student, allegedly brought a semi-automatic handgun with ammunition onto the campus during a disturbance in a parking lot.

He had apparently been staying unauthorized in a campus apartment at the time of the incident. Dickerson told investigators that he concealed the handgun used to fire the shots in a room on campus, the document states. Texas Southern University officials said in a statement that Dickerson was visiting two friends, who were TSU students. Those students have been placed on disciplinary probation and cannot return to campus housing.

The campus police department recovered the weapon in the campus domitory [sic] where Dickerson fled during its investigation last week. The campus has a zero tolerance policy for weapons on campus.

Dickerson’s bail is set at $5,000, court records show.

Follow @erinmulvaney

[Thanks to reader-researcher RC for this story.]