CRIME OF FASHION
Manhattan university ‘terror’ alert — because of this belt!
A student wearing this faux bullet belt caused a panic at Pace University in l ower Manhattan yesterday, with the NYPD’s counterterrorism unit evacuating the area. SEE PAGE 10
A major style blunder led to a day of terror at Pace University on Thursday — when a student tried to look cool by wearing a belt made out of machine-gun bullets and witnesses called 911 to report an active shooter.
The fashion fool first caught the eye of his classmates at about 2:30 p.m., when he dropped his pants in a bathroom stall and his bullet belt hit the floor.
Other students then saw what looked like a pile of large-caliber machine-gun rounds and immediately called cops, claiming there was a man about to load an assault weapon. One student even posted a video of the unsettling accessory on Snapchat with a caption that read “WTF.”
The calls prompted a massive response by the NYPD’s counterterrorism unit, which evacuated the building as they confronted the bullet-belted student.
They soon realized, though, that instead of a dangerous suspect, they were dealing with a simple fashion victim. “[It’s] probably not a very good fashion statement,” said Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller — who was left in a joking mood by the mix-up.
“We’re considering charging one individual with a fashion crime, but we’re still conferring with fashion prosecutors.”
Before the reality of the situation was revealed, the ordeal terrified some students.
“I was in math class and out of nowhere, a guy came in and said a friend said there’s a guy with a machine gun on the sixth floor,” said 18-year-old freshman Kacey McLoughlin, who had tears in his eyes. “We didn’t know what to do. We pushed desks and chairs in front of the door so no one could come in.”
The terrifying accessory was similar to a “M16 bullet belt” made up of copper-tipped .223-caliber Remington dummy cartridges that was retailing Thursday for $38.33 on a punk-rock accessory Web site studsandspikes.com.
When students learned they were forced to flee because of a clothing accessory, some couldn’t hide their anger.
“I was kind of annoyed by it. I was annoyed by the whole system,” said Heather Hall, 20, a junior at the school.
“I wouldn’t have reacted to some guy wearing an ammunition belt . . . I think it got to a point of chaos because it was all hearsay. Nobody knew what was going on.”