Heroes of St. John’s scare honored

St. John’s University recently awarded the President’s Medal - one of the college’s highest honors - to the police cadet and school security officer who apprehended a student that brought a loaded gun on campus.
At the ceremony at the Jamaica Estates campus on Thursday, October 4, student cadet Christopher Benson and Dan Boylan, a retired police lieutenant, both received commendations from school officials and politicians for stopping the would-be gunman on Wednesday, September 26.
“Dan and Chris acted selflessly and courageously to protect life and to preserve peace and for that we are forever grateful,” St. John’s President Reverend Donald Harrington told the crowd gathered on the college’s Great Lawn.
However, the humble heroes downplayed their actions after the event.
“We’re kind of shocked with all the attention and the press we’re getting for our 15 minutes of fame,” Benson said, before crediting his New York Police Department’s (NYPD) cadet training for developing the instinct to work with Boylan to apprehend gun-toting freshman Omesh Hiraman. “We worked together really well and knew each other’s actions without ever having to say a word.”
“Any public safety officer would have done the same thing. I just happened to be at the right place at the same time, so I kind of feel lucky in that respect,” said Boylan.
Elected officials also praised St. John’s rapid response to the incident - sending out a series of text messages alerting its community to the situation.
“The easiest thing for St. John’s to have done that day was to bury its head in the sand and not send their text message alert,” said Assemblymember Rory Lancman.
Councilmember James Gennaro compared the college community to a family.
“What does a family do? A family helps one another and is prepared for things. A family is not afraid to take action,” he said.
Benson said that his own cell phone was buzzing with a text message sent out by the school to alert students, faculty, and staff of the situation, which led to a complete campus lockdown for three hours.
“When we were tackling [Hiraman], my phone was going off with the text message,” he said.
As for Hiraman, he was ruled unfit to stand trial by a court-appointed examiner, a spokesperson for Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said on Tuesday, October 9.
Hiraman’s next court date is Wednesday, October 17, and at that time, the results will be analyzed and both the prosecution and defense will have the opportunity to either accept or challenge the findings. Hiraman is charged with misdemeanor weapons possession and faces up to a year behind bars if convicted.