Last month, a man wielded a knife in the Student Union, prompting a campus lockdown. After the incident, he was involuntarily committed to UNC Hospitals.
Though he has since been released into the care of an unnamed facility for psychiatric observation, he has not yet been formally charged with assault with a deadly weapon and second degree kidnapping — charges a DPS spokesman said could be forthcoming.
Jesse Alan Kister, 31, was apprehended by Chapel Hill Police on East Franklin Street March 23 following the Union incident.
Randy Young, spokesman for DPS, said under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act , which ensures medical privacy, he cannot disclose where Kister is currently staying.
Charges will not be formally filed until Kister is released from the hospital, at which time his court process will begin. Because the incident occurred on campus, the Department of Public Safety has jurisdiction over the investigation. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is also involved in the case.
Young said another police force may serve the warrant if it is located closer to the hospital from which Kister will be released.
The Department of Public Safety is handling this ongoing investigation under Lieutenant Tom Twiddy.
Another ongoing investigation involves former UNC sophomore Charles Talmadge, who was charged last month after reportedly exhibiting erratic and inapproriate behavior in Lewis Residence Hall.
