JONESBORO — A judge set a $50,000 bond for the man arrested after a standoff at Arkansas State University Friday.
Kenneth Bartelt, 47, appeared by video from the Craighead County jail Friday afternoon for a hearing before Craighead County District Judge Keith Blackman.
Bartelt was charged with first-degree terroristic threatening, aggravated assault, criminal possession of an explosive device and carrying a firearm in a publicly owned facility.
A Jan. 29 hearing is set in Craighead County Circuit Court.
Bartelt's girlfriend, Connie Francis Hampton, 41, also appeared before the judge and had her bond set at $2,500. She faces a charge of possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.
See Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
— Kenneth Heard
EARLIER:
The armed man taken into custody after a standoff on the Arkansas State University campus Thursday is set to appear via video for a hearing Friday afternoon along with his girlfriend, who was arrested on a weapons charge.
Also Friday, police released a report indicating the man charged in the standoff — 47-year-old Brad Kenneth Bartelt — said he initially intended to shoot others at the university but later decided to threaten only to take his own life.
After the standoff ended with no injuries, police were searching a residence on Hall Street in Jonesboro that Bartelt shares with 41-year-old girlfriend Connie Francis Hampton when they arrested her on a parole violation as well as a charge of possession of a firearm by a felon, police said.
An AR-15 was found on a bedroom floor "fully loaded and ready to fire," according to an initial narrative from Jonesboro police officer Mike Branscum released Friday. Four "large hunting knives" and a box containing ammunition for shotguns and "several .223 rounds for the AR-15" were also found, authorities said.
Bartelt is being held on charges of terroristic threatening, aggravated assault and being a criminal in possession of explosive devices, according to authorities.
Hampton and Bartelt are each scheduled to appear by video at the Craighead County jail at 1 p.m. Friday.
The university reported an "active shooter" via its alert system about 1:33 p.m. Thursday after reports that a man drove a green Chevrolet pickup truck onto the lawn of the university's Carl R. Reng Student Union.
Bartelt would at times get out of his truck and wave a 12-gauge shotgun around in "various directions" on campus, according to the report.
"At one point he picked up a gasoline can and was pouring the gas on his truck," Branscum wrote. "He pointed the gun at a liquid propane tank numerous times, threatening to shoot and blow up the tank."
According to the narrative, Bartelt told authorities at the scene that he was upset after being injured while driving a tractor-trailer at the Arkansas State University campus in Newport.
"He said that they did not treat him right and pay for certain expenses and bills resulting from the injury," the report states. "He stated that he was going to come to the university and shoot other people but he realized that murder would be wrong, so he was going to kill himself."
After a period of negotiations, Bartelt was arrested without incident shortly after 2:45 p.m. Thursday. No gunshots were reported and no one was injured, police said.
In a Facebook status posted Wednesday, Bartelt said he was "suicidal and now homicidal," referencing what he said was an effort from the Social Security Administration to falsify medical records "over 22 times."
Bartelt told police that he was taking "several psychiatric [medications]" such as Hydrocodone and Xanax. He also said "he was seeing demons in the woods around his house and had tried to photograph them, but was not able to get their pictures," according to the police narrative released Friday.
Information for this article was contributed by Kenneth Heard of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
RELATED COVERAGE
