UMBC Police announced Friday they have charged Andrew Kelechi Irechukwu, a 21-year-old student from Timonium, in an incident earlier this week in which police said he brought a replica gun to campus.

He was charged with bringing a dangerous weapon on school property, having a handgun in a vehicle, malicious destruction of property and disturbing the operation of a school, according to a press release from the school posted Friday night.

UMBC Police Chief Mark Sparks said in the release he couldn't say specifically if Irechukwu was expelled from campus, but that the university goes through a process to respond to such situations.

The incident began on the night of Wednesday, May 30, when the suspect was seen with a handgun by a female student, police said. UMBC police deputy chief Paul Dillon told Patch the female witness said she saw the suspect pull back the slide of an automatic-type pistol.

The female student became concerned later in the night, when the suspect was involved in a confrontation within student housing and threw a chair against a wall, Dillon said.

She called 911 at around 5:15 a.m. Thursday and provided police with information, then went "off the grid" for about 90 minutes when she turned her cell phone off, Dillon said.

The suspect's car was located within 15 minutes parked on Hilltop Circle near the West Hill Apartments.

Once police were able to contact the female witness, officials located the suspect, who returned willingly to the UMBC police station where he was being questioned Thursday afternoon, Dillion said.

The weapon recovered by police was a starters' pistol that is unable to fire projectiles, Dillion said.