Phoenix-area college evacuated after man with guns arrested on campus

PHOENIX — A Phoenix-area college was evacuated Tuesday after police arrested a man on campus who had at least two handguns in his car.

The Surprise Police Department said it was called about a man acting suspiciously at the Ottawa University campus, located near Bell Road and Bullard Avenue, about 7 a.m. after he tried to evade a school police officer.

The suspect was later identified as 31-year-old Steven Ziya.

Officers found Ziyaand made contact with him. He was detained without incident. Officers later found the handguns in his car.

Police decided to evacuate the campus “out of an abundance of caution” and a security sweep was conducted. The search did not turn up anything.

Ziya was charged with trespassing, disrupting an educational institution and forgery fir possessing an altered driver’s license. Investigators were unsure why he was on the campus.

Hundreds of students attend classes at the school. Ottawa University said the campus would be running normally by 11 a.m. in a Facebook post.

The evacuation came amid a heightened sense of security at schools nationwide following a shooting at a Florida high school that left 17 dead.

Several people in Arizona have been arrested for either carrying a gun onto school grounds or making threats against educational institutions since the Valentine’s Day shooting.

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