Police beef up security at Dalhousie
Faced with expulsion from Dalhousie University’s medical school, student Stephen Tynes told a campus psychiatrist on Aug. 20 he had “no options” and was angry.
He then allegedly shared details of a sinister plan: to stab an associate dean and her daughter, and then shoot up to 20 people before taking his own life.
The shocking revelations, contained in search warrant documents, come as the Halifax university is just days from orientation week and grappling with a string of public-relations nightmares.
A student who was about to start medical school is facing charges of murdering another student who went missing last month.
The university’s reputation also took a hit recently over reports of a sexist and misogynistic culture in its dentistry school.
“Dalhousie is having a rough year for PR. Holy mackerel,” J.J. Podborski, digital marketing coordinator for a Halifax startup, wrote in a Twitter post Wednesday.
“Well, Dalhousie hasn’t had a good year or so in the press, have they?” tweeted Megan Blumenthal, a freelance writer in Dartmouth.
The university published a security bulletin Wednesday to try to reassure Halifax residents safety was a priority. Police and security have been beefed up on the Carleton campus, where the medical school is located. Valid school identification is also required to enter medical school buildings.
“The student (Tynes) has been suspended from Dalhousie University and banned from all university campuses,” the bulletin said.
Student union president Dan Nicholson declined to say how recent events have affected campus morale. In a statement, he said the student union is gearing up for the arrival of 1,500 new students for orientation week, which will involve a field party, evening concert, dance battles and cheer-offs.
According to a search warrant application filed by Halifax Regional Police last month, Tynes, 30, met psychiatrist Terry Chisholm on Aug. 20. He had been a patient for 16 months.
During the session, Tynes said he was going to be expelled from medical school — the reasons were not explained — and allegedly told Chisholm he wanted to stab Evelyn Sutton, the associate dean of undergraduate medical education, and her daughter, Ellen MacDonald, a student at the medical school.
He added he would find a gun and kill 10 to 20 people before killing himself, according to the documents. Chisholm told Tynes she would be calling police and he left her office in an “agitated state.”
He was arrested later that day 100 kilometres away in a Walmart parking lot in Truro, N.S., and charged with uttering threats and engaging in threatening conduct. The allegations have not been proved.
Tynes’ aunt told police he owned two rifles. A search of his apartment turned up a Henry Golden Boy .22 rifle and a Russian SKS rifle, 1,800 rounds of ammunition, and a membership card for the Scotia Gun Club.
The man is out on bail, ordered to live with his father in Truro, not possess firearms and stay away from the campus, except under supervision.
Last year, Tynes was reportedly charged with killing a cat, but the case was dismissed.
Details of the murder-spree plot come as the school is reeling from news a soon-to-be medical student, William Sandeson, 22, has been charged with the first-degree murder of physics student Taylor Samson, also 22. Samson went missing last month and his body has not been found.
Local media reports suggest the alleged murder may have been the outcome of a marijuana deal gone bad. Police believe Samson sold marijuana for extra cash.
Also, this year, a task force appointed by Dalhousie found its dentistry school had fostered a culture that “permits incidents of sexism and misogyny.” The task force was set up after some male students posted comments on Facebook degrading their female peers. The dental school culture was paternalistic and there was a “degree of obliviousness to changing mores and the ways in which respect for women should be expressed,” the report said.