A College of Southern Nevada professor has taken his protests of President Donald Trump to an extreme level — by reportedly shooting himself in the arm with a .22 pistol.
The Las Vegas Review Journal reported that the professor, Mark J. Bird, shot himself in a bathroom on the school campus and left his arm “bleeding … before he collapsed.”
Bird is now facing charges for bringing the gun onto a school campus, discharging it within a prohibited space — and for carrying a concealed weapon without the proper permit.
The police report about the incident says that “Bird said he had shot himself in protest of President Donald Trump.”
He was reportedly telling students and faculty members who were trying to calm him after the incident that he had shot himself as a way of protesting the current sitting president.
There was no more elaboration on this point in the police report.
The professor left a $100 bill taped to the mirror of the bathroom where he shot himself as a tip for the cleanup. He even left a note with the money; it said, “for the janitor.”
His injuries from the shot are not said to be life-threatening.
Bird was hired by the school in 1993 and was a sociology teacher.
The incident in question took place on August 28, according to court documents.
The school itself has not put forth much official word on the incident, and so far has mentioned it only briefly in its official newsletter.
“When you don’t give the full details, then rumors go crazy. It’s unfortunate because it made the students and faculty very afraid and allowed rumors to proliferate.”
“I appreciate all of the expressions of concern and interest, and I pledge to keep everyone updated should the situation change,” wrote Federico Zaragoza, the college president, at the end of the last newsletter.
Robert Manis, president of the college’s faculty union, expressed to the Las Vegas Review Journal that the school should have been more proactive in releasing information on the bizarre incident.
“They never really told the students much about it except that it was resolved on the actual day of the shooting,” he said.
“When you don’t give the full details, then rumors go crazy. It’s unfortunate because it made the students and faculty very afraid and allowed rumors to proliferate.”
Bird’s preliminary hearing will be on September 17 in Las Vegas Justice Court.
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