A GSAS administrator fired several bullets at an active threat training completion certificate belonging to his co-worker, according to an incident report filed on Monday.
John Henderson, an associate director at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, reportedly took the certificate from his co-worker’s office to a gun range and ruptured it with eight bullets. An administrator who filed the report and spoke with WSN on condition of anonymity found the certificate placed on the front desk — visible to passersby — at 6 Washington Square North, which houses GSAS offices. The certificate was awarded to administrative staff member John Macpherson for completion of NYU’s recently mandated active threat training course.
The report was filed with GSAS director Kristi Ramos after an employee told the administrator that Macpherson showed them the bullet-riddled certificate and said Henderson “shot it up and brought it back to the office.” Ramos brought the issue to the human resources department, which reportedly met with Henderson and Macpherson separately on Tuesday. The administrator told WSN that they were unaware of the meeting’s contents, but that both individuals retained campus access and attended an in-person staffwide active threat training the following day.
“When I saw the certificate I was horrified,” the administrator told WSN. “To me it felt like we had a potential mass shooter in the office — I immediately feared for everyone’s safety and escalated it accordingly.”
An NYU spokesperson told WSN the university “does not comment on personnel matters and takes each report of harassment, discrimination and inappropriate workplace behavior seriously.”
Expert witness Aaron Forum, who has over two decades of experience in ballistics, reviewed images of the certificate and told WSN he is “100% certain” bullets perforated it. He confirmed that eight bullets were fired by the same caliber, consistent with 5.56 mm rounds — or .223-caliber range — and are unlikely to have been fired accidentally. Firearms expert Barret Kendrick separately told WSN that the darkening around the holes and tear lines that resemble a “star pattern in every direction” are signs the paper was shot by a firearm.
“My experience includes the examination of thousands of paper targets and paper substrates bearing bullet perforations,” Forum wrote. “Each perforation exhibits a visible grease ring, which is consistent with bullet passage through paper.”
NYU’s Office of Equal Opportunity recently received a complaint alleging that Henderson made repeated sexual remarks toward one of the administrator’s employees, which the administrator said was raised as part of the certificate shooting report. The OEO met with the parties involved and is expected to decide the next steps the following week.
In September, NYU was one of several universities to receive a hoax shooting threat that targeted its Black community. The university announced its active shooter training early January amid efforts to increase security at New York City universities following a shooting at Brown University. The module prompts students and faculty to watch a 13-minute video with instructions on how to respond to an active threat on campus.
“I assumed that once I reported this, NYU would take swift action and protect their employees — but they did nothing,” the administrator said. “To be sitting in the same room as the shooter just two days later, participating in an active shooter training module of all things, was extremely traumatizing. I don’t know how I am supposed to come back to the office now. I feel sick.”
Henderson, Macpherson and Ramos did not immediately respond to WSN’s request for comment.
Correction, 2/5: A previous version of this article said the Office of Equal Opportunity opened an investigation into Henderson.
Contact Leena Ahmed at [email protected].