About 50 students in a Seattle University School of Law torts class were spooked last week when a man disrupted their lecture wielding an ice cream cone.
A 38-year-old man entered Sullivan Hall around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, the Seattle Times reports, and initially walked toward the front of the class to sit on a table. Dressed in a trench coat and eating an ice cream cone, the man started to walk around the classroom, circling the students, according to MyNorthwest.com. As he became increasingly erratic, students told the Times they were worried he would become violent and possibly pull out a gun.
Yen Jones, a student in the class who spoke to KOMO News, said the man told the professor, "Keep teaching. Keep teaching. I want to learn."
As students hurried to grab their belongings and leave, the man continued pacing up and down the aisles and leaping over furniture.
Visiting law professor Madeline Kass, the instructor, summoned campus security using an emergency call button after the man refused to leave.
"I think, given the recent shootings at Sandy Hook and in Seattle, and the constant news we hear of gun violence, everybody in that room legitimately felt scared," Kass told the Seattle Times. Kass added that "what was scary was that his conduct was so bizarre and unusual, rather than aggressive."
Security arrived within a few minutes, according to KOMO. Students were unable to call 911 because the basement classroom has poor cell phone reception, the university told the Times.
The intruder, unnamed in local media reports, was arrested on suspicion of trespassing and is believed to be have a form of mental illness.
[h/t Above the Law]