This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.
HIGH POINT, N.C. — A High Point University student found with two guns and ammunition in his dorm room on campus had a plan to “shoot up the school,” court documents show. Documents state that Paul Arnold Steber, 19, from Boston, Massachusetts, during an interview with police, admitted to plotting the shooting, He had a “plan and timeline to kill people” and was deemed a “threat to society,” the documents show. Students reported the weapons and HPU security confiscated the firearms as well as ammunition and turned matters over to High Point police. Steber was in possession of a Star Super Modelo 9mm and a Brownson, Slucom, and Hopkins percussion shotgun. He was living in the UC Wanek freshman housing. HPU sent out a letter to the university community Wednesday, saying, “We experienced an unfortunate situation today.”
The R.G. Wanek Center at High Point University
According to a High Point Police news release, Steber was charged with two felony counts of weapons on campus or other educational property. He was confined to the Guilford County (High Point) Jail under a $2 million secured bond. Through the course of the investigation, detectives developed probable cause to also charge Steber with one count of communicating a threat of mass violence on educational property. The bond for the third charge was set at $1 million. HPU emphasized that North Carolina law prohibits any person, including a concealed handgun permit holder, from carrying a firearm, openly or concealed, on educational property or at a curricular or extracurricular activity sponsored by a public or private primary school, community college, college or university. “It’s one thing to hear about it at another school or something like that, but you never feel it’s going to happen where you go to school, right here where you live and go to class every day,” said HPU junior Colton Zenni. “It’s pretty disconcerting to think something like that could really happen anywhere. It could happen on your own campus.” Founded in 1924, HPU is a 94-year-old liberal arts institution located in High Point, N.C. About 5,200 students are enrolled at HPU.
This is the email sent out to the High Point University community after police say they found guns in a student’s possession.