UC Riverside student accused of building AR-15-style rifle in campus apartment

By Matthew Rodriguez

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    RIVERSIDE COUNTY, California (KCAL) — Riverside County prosecutors charged a UC Riverside with two felonies after he allegedly built an AR-15-style rifle in his campus apartment.

When campus police searched his home, they found an AR-15-style rifle registered to the student, as well as several high-capacity magazines, ammunition and “hand-drawn images in a journal depicting a violent act,” according to court documents.

The Riverside County District Attorney charged 22-year-old Christopher Jungyoon Kim with one count of possessing and bringing a firearm to the university and possessing an assault weapon. They added an enhancement claiming Kim engaged in violent conduct.

The university also suspended Kim, ordered him to leave the campus and barred him from returning pending the result of an administrative hearing.

In court documents, officers conducted a weapons records check on Kim after someone reported a crime to the UC Riverside Police Department. Through the law enforcement database of firearms, investigators found that a lower receiver of an Aero Precision Rifle M4E1 registered to his name.

Detectives asked Kim, who worked for the department, to meet in the police station briefing room to review the accusation. After reading him his rights and agreeing to speak with officers, an investigator advised Kim that he had a search warrant for his campus apartment.

Kim confessed to having a rifle in his apartment and also said that he built it in his room. He also admitted he knew it was illegal to have a gun on a university campus, according to court documents.

During the search of his apartment, Kim directed officers to his rifle in a bag on the left side of his closet. In the court documents, an investigator said the AR-15 did not have a fixed magazine and had features including a flash suppressor and telescoping stock.

In California, AR-15s are legal to own if they are configured in one of two ways: featureless or fixed magazine. Featureless rifles cannot have features such as a pistol grip, flash suppressor or telescoping stock. Fixed magazine rifles, as apparent by its name, must have a fixed magazine that cannot be removed from the weapon, unless a user breaks apart the gun.

Prosecutors recommended a bail of $10,000 for Kim.

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