A ‘distressed’ Florida university student who police say purchased high-powered rifles and an expensive car has been deported.
Wenliang Sun, 26, was in federal custody for about three months before he was deported to China on Tuesday, The Orlando Sentinel reported.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Tammy Spicer said Sun is prohibited from returning to the United States for at least 10 years.
University of Central Florida police began investigating Sun after he made ‘unusual statements’ to a counselor last year.
The student bought a $68,000 Chevy Corvette in September, dyed his hair blonde and gained weight, the Washington Post reported.
In late January, Sun bought a high-powered rifle, and just days after police spoke with him about the purchase, he went and bought another.
Wenliang Sun, 26, has been deported to China after displaying ‘crisis’ behavior and purchasing two high powered rifles. In the lead up to his arrest, he also dyed his hair blonde and gained weight (pictured February 2017 left, after his arrest in March 2018 right)
Sun also bought a $68,000 Chevy Corvette months before he began to purchase guns. Campus police chief Richard Beary says Sun did not pick up his guns in this car because he did not want the weapons associated with it
Sun also purchased a few hundred rounds of ammunition, and police say he had rarely left his room.
His roommate, friends and university employees all shared their concerns about Sun’s behavior with campus police, who said his actions were ‘very indicative of an individual who’s in crisis’.
Sun purchased the guns legally, because he had a hunting license, but campus police chief Richard Beary said his Facebook profile picture had the slogan: ‘shoot selfies, not animals’, which indicated he may not have intended to hunt animals with the weapons.
In an interview with police, Sun said he never intended to hurt himself or anyone else, and the student never made any specific threats.
Sun was able to buy the guns because he had a hunting license, but Beary said his license did not correlate with the student’s PETA-supporting profile picutre
But Beary said Sun’s behavior was consistent with the way people act in the lead up to mass shootings.
‘In my mind, something very bad was going to happen somewhere in central Florida,’ Beary told reporters in April.
‘Again, he bought a very expensive, very fast car. Why? Why would you do that?’ When he picked up the firearms, he didn’t drive that car. Why? He didn’t want people associating him and that car. So I think there was a disaster about to happen, and we stopped it,’ he said.
A judge revoked Sun’s visa in February when officials learned he wasn’t attending class, which is a requirement of the visa.
At this point, his hunting license became void and therefore his rifles became illegal.
Beary believed Sun’s behaviour was consistent with that of a mass shooter
Sun will not be allowed to return to the USA for 10 years now he has been deported