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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Ammunition found on campus four times this year

Olivia Anderson | Hatchet Photographer
Olivia Anderson | Hatchet Photographer

Ammunition has been found on campus at least four times so far this year, according to the GW crime log.

Possessing firearm ammunition is a violation of GW’s weapons policy. Of the seven total weapons violations logged so far in 2016, at least four of them were reports of students or officers in the University Police Department finding ammunition on campus property.

The number of weapons violations so far this year has already surpassed the six violations in 2015.

One UPD officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because UPD officers are not allowed to talk to media, said no weapons “of any kind” should be found on campus.

“I don’t think it’s something we find very often,” the officer said. “It’s pretty rare.”

A female student in West Hall found a round of ammunition in a washing machine on Feb. 20, UPD Detective Matthew Robinson said in a meeting later that week.

In the same week, a student reported finding a single round of ammunition in the parking garage at 2028 G St., according to the crime log.

UPD officers responded after ammunition was found in a room in Mitchell Hall during a health and safety room inspection in January. Officers gave the ammunition to the Metropolitan Police Department and referred the student to GW’s disciplinary office.

Over winter break, UPD officers found an ammunition belt in a Thurston Hall room and concluded that it was a prop from a Halloween costume purchased at an Army surplus store, according to the crime log.

UPD Chief RaShall Brackney said GW’s policy on weapons includes a ban on “firearms, explosives, weapons, ammunition or any item that may be construed as such” for anyone on campus.

Brackney declined to confirm the number of incidents where ammunition was found on campus this year and declined to comment on why the number of violations has increased since 2015.

She also declined to comment on how ammunition could have gotten into public places like the parking garage, or in the West Hall washing machine.

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