A Binghamton University student was arraigned on a felony charge after allegedly stabbing another student on campus Sunday evening with a small ‘multi-tool device’ similar to a Leatherman, officials said.
Okeano N. Bell, a 20-year-old male resident of Mountainview College’s Hunter Hall, was released by Johnson City Village Court early Monday morning pending further court action. But BU officials banned him from campus, summarily suspending him from school until he resolves on-campus disciplinary and off-campus criminal charges, said Ryan Yarosh, a BU spokesman.
Campus police had charged Bell with second-degree assault, a Class D felony, after responding to a report of a fight outside Dickinson Community’s Rafuse Hall, police said. The victim, a male on-campus resident whose name has not been released, suffered a small puncture wound to the left side of the back in the area of the ribs, according to reports.
‘It appears the injuries are superficial,’ the Office of Communications and Marketing said in an e-mail sent out to students Sunday evening.
The victim was treated and released from Wilson Memorial Regional Medical Center in Johnson City. He was not arrested or charged, police said. Campus officials would not release the victim’s whereabouts.
Officials did not say what had caused the altercation.
Campus police discovered the ‘key-chain sized’ Gerber brand multi-tool at the scene of the crime, officials said. ‘The multi-tool device is similar to a Leatherman-type tool,’ said Yarosh. A Leatherman consists of ‘tools’ ‘ like screwdrivers, bottle openers and knife blades ‘ that can be folded into the device for storage and folded out for usage.
‘The suspect used the small blade portion of that device,’ said Yarosh. But according to Deputy Chief Timothy Faughnan of Binghamton’s New York State University Police, the actual component of the multi-tool used in the crime is uncertain. Police are still investigating the incident, he said.
A Dickinson resident director called police at 9:08 p.m. Sunday to report the fight, police said.
Bell didn’t resist arrest, according to a Rafuse Hall resident assistant who was on duty when he witnessed police handcuff Bell at Parking Lot B.
The victim, who talked with medics on the ‘grassy knoll’ between Rafuse and O’Connor Halls, was able to get himself into a Harpur’s Ferry ambulance, said another RA. According to the Press & Sun-Bulletin, Harpur’s Ferry took the victim to the hospital at 9:42 p.m.
Campus police detained Bell and questioned him late Sunday evening. Bell appeared before Judge Richard Miller at Johnson City court at 1:30 a.m. Monday. Officers who arrested Bell couldn’t reach a Vestal town judge who ordinarily arraigns defendants accused of crimes in the town’s jurisdiction.