Police and fire marshals responded to a report of a small object on fire on a walkway outside Wagner College in Roosevelt Quad on the night of May 19. According to Stony Brook University Chief of Police Robert J. Lenahan, police said they believe an unknown individual placed a rag inside a bottle, lit the rag on fire, and then broke the bottle on the walkway.

Though the rag was extinguished before emergency personnel arrived, students in nearby buildings were evacuated after fire alarms were pulled.

From her third floor window in Wagner College, sophomore sociology major Melissa Letter watched as campus police arrived on the scene.

“Earlier in the night, my roommate and I had heard beer bottles breaking outside, which isn’t unusual for our quad because people like to throw them off the fire escapes,” Letter said. “So we’d been listening to that when I heard walkie talkies outside.”

When Letter looked out the window, she saw two officers looking at some shattered glass on the pavement between her building and Greeley College.

“I thought that it seemed like an overreaction to a beer bottle, so I was watching because it seemed kind of funny,” Letter said.

Soon, more personnel, including Director of Risk Management Dave Scarzella — who would not comment on the incident as it was still under investigation — poured in and the immediate area was sectioned off with police tape. Rumors of the broken glass once being part of a Molotov cocktail quickly sprung up among the crowds.

“I would guess that someone tried to make one, or maybe a pretend one, just to be an ass because I don’t remember seeing any flames or hearing anything before they got there,” Letter said.

Regardless, the police will continue to investigate the incident.

“It should be noted that although the object was not thrown at or near the building, this type of behavior and activity poses safety concerns and creates cause for alarm, and results in a criminal investigation,” Lenahan said in an email.