EAST LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – Michigan State University police officials say a suspect is facing felony charges for allegedly running a meth lab inside Wells Hall, which was evacuated Monday due to the “presence of an unidentified chemical.”
On Wednesday evening MSU Department of Police and Public Safety Chief Mike Yankowski said 31-year-old Xin Tong has been charged with malicious destruction of a building over $20,000 and felony controlled substance-operate/maintain lab involving methamphetamine.
He was arraigned Wednesday evening.
Yankowski said the department responded to reports of property damage in the building that were “directly related to alleged criminal activity.”
“Due to the fact that this is an open and active investigation, we are limited in the information we can share,” Yankowski said.
Yankowski said DPPS identified a suspect connected to these incidents. MSU police officers made contact with the suspect inside Wells Hall on Sunday and ”ultimately identified multiple substances that can be legally purchased in retail stores or online.”
“The chemicals include sodium hydroxide pellets, hydrochloric acid, methanol, isopropyl alcohol, acetone, and butane. Multiple tests performed by the Office of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) confirm the environment in Wells Hall does not pose a risk to our community,” a release from MSU DPPS said.
RELATED: MSU’s Wells Hall to be closed all week after Monday evacuation due to ‘presence of unidentified chemical’
Authorities say there “continues to be no risk to our campus community and your safety remains our top priority.”
School officials had originally planned to reopen Wells Hall on Tuesday, but “the decision was made to keep the building closed, relocate exams, and provide ample time to allow DPPS to gather evidence, EHS to inspect the building, clean and assess damage to flooring, fixtures and other surfaces, and work with Infrastructure Planning and Facilities (IPF) to remediate and ultimately restore the impacted spaces. ”
This is a developing story. Stay with News 10 for the latest updates as they become available.
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