NIU student arrested after police say he fired gun inside off-campus student housing

DeKALB – A Northern Illinois University student is facing charges after police said he fired a gun while inside NIU-owned apartment housing off campus.

The student reportedly told police the weapon was discharged accidentally, according to DeKalb County court records.

Sirwalter Richardson, 22, of the 7600 block of South Ada Street in Chicago and of the first block of Northern View Circle in DeKalb was arrested and charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm, a Class 1 felony, and unauthorized possession or storage of weapons, a Class A misdemeanor. If convicted of the felony charge, Richardson could face up to 15 years in prison.

The NIU student appeared before DeKalb County Judge Joseph Voiland during a virtual bond hearing Monday and was represented by Public Defender Tom McCulloch.

According to DeKalb County court documents, NIU police responded to a call Saturday from an NIU student living in building four of Northern View Apartments, which is considered university student housing and owned by NIU. The student told police he found what looked like a bullet hole in his bedroom.

Police later learned Richardson lived in the adjacent apartment, which shared the wall with the bullet hole, according to court documents. Richardson consented to police searching his apartment. Officers found a 9mm pistol, which Richardson allegedly admitted belonged to him, according to records.

“Richardson admitted that he possessed that pistol in his room and that it accidentally discharged towards the wall he shares with [his neighbor],” according to court documents. “Richardson also admitted that he knew the building was occupied at the time of the discharge.”

Police later found a hole through a TV and the wall that matched the bullet hole in Richardson’s apartment. Richardson did not have permission of NIU police to possess the gun on NIU’s DeKalb campus, according to court records.

David Berault, chief of the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s civil bureau, asked Voiland to set Richardson’s bond at $10,000, with $1,000 needed to be released from jail. He also asked the judge to restrict the student’s access to his neighbors and ability to leave his home if he were released.

McCulloch told Voiland, however, that because Richardson is an NIU student, he might have a hard time abiding by a no-contact order because of the nature of campus housing. He said his client couldn’t afford an electronic home monitoring device and asked for a recognizance bond.

Voiland ordered a $10,000 recognizance bond for Richardson, who could be released using his signature. The student also was ordered to surrender any firearm owner identification cards and guns he may own to NIU police.

“I am not entering an order to stay away from your neighbors, nor am I entering an [electronic home monitoring] order, but you understand the importance of surrendering your FOID card, surrendering any weapons or ammunition,” Voiland said to Richardson.

Richardson is due back in court at 10:45 a.m. Feb. 24 at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore.