Ex-basketball coach arrested for threatening to shoot students and school staff

A Fresno professor has been arrested two months after he made alleged threats to shoot students and staff in a lecture

A college professor and former basketball coach has been arrested after allegedly threatening to shoot staff and students at a Fresno college.

Edward Madec, 51, a professor at Fresno City College was giving a lecture on 15 August when he allegedly made threats to shoot students and staff, according to the State Centre Community College District’s police department.

He then also allegedly made comments about bullets “flying” towards students in the morning lecture, as well as an alleged threat to shoot and kill the State Center Community College District Chancellor, according to KSEE.

Fresno City College is part of the State Center Community College District.

He reportedly compared the bullet points on his PowerPoint presentation to bullets coming towards the students in the lecture, KSEE reported.

After students reported his comments to authorities, Mr Madec was put on administrative leave while police looked into the incident.

Last Friday, the professor was arrested taken into custody and booked into the Fresno County Jail, but he has since been released on bail.

He reportedly faces two felony counts for making threats against students and staff.

At the time of his arrest, police found no weapons in his possession.

The College District police department said in their statement that they are “deeply concerned that the alleged suspect may pose a serious ongoing threat” to students and staff.

If Mr Madec is spotted on campus, people are advised not to confront him and to contact police immediately.

However, some students were surprised that despite the initial incident happening two months ago, they did not find out until Monday morning, KSEE reported.

“I found out about it this morning, because my friend sent me a PowerPoint or whatever, explaining what happened so I didn’t hear about this until literally this morning,” one student, Betzaidea Altamirano, told the outlet.

State Centre Community College District’s police department are “deeply concerned” that Mr Madec could still pose a serious threat (Google Maps)

“It’s crazy how you feel like you can trust someone and obviously it turns out they’re entirely different than what you imagined,” she also said, referring to Mr Madec.

Fresno City College said, according to the outlet, that students were not notified because the investigation was ongoing.

Mr Madec had previously been on administrative leave after his men’s basketball program, which he coached for 14 seasons, was found to be violating multiple by-laws over snacks and team barbeques in 2020.

As a result, the team was placed on probation for four years.

According to KSEE, he filed a lawsuit in 2020 after he was removed as coach, but the lawsuit was dismissed in July of that year.

The Independent has contacted Fresno City College for further comment.