A Saudi college student studying at the University of New Mexico was detained over the weekend for possession of an illegal firearm.
Hassan Alqahtani, 28, is believed to have kept a hit list that included university professors, according to the Albuquerque Journal. An affidavit stated that the FBI found a .380-caliber Cobra handgun during a search of his home on Thursday.
Alqahtani had just finished his final semester and was scheduled to receive his bachelor’s degree on Saturday. His parents had flown in from Saudi Arabia to celebrate with a weekend at Disneyland in California. Instead, Alqahtani spent the past few days behind bars after authorities charged him with being a nonimmigrant student visa holder in possession of a firearm.
Rejecting his request for bail, Magistrate Judge Karen Molzen said, “I didn’t fall off a turnip truck yesterday. I know you could have more than one location to have a firearm.”
Joel Meyers, a defense attorney for Alqahtani, called the language in the complaint “flamboyant” and said federal officials had already interviewed Alqahtani in October before allowing him to return to campus.
Alqahtani’s detainment comes after Saudi national Mohammed Alshamrani killed three at Pensacola Naval Base in Florida in early December. Six more Saudi nationals who filmed the massacre were arrested in connection with the shooting.
He faces a preliminary hearing in the U.S. District Court in Albuquerque on Monday.
