By Shavonne Walker
shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — A local man was charged with weapons offenses after he was spotted with a handgun near dormitories on the campus of Livingstone College just before 8 p.m. Thursday.

Police charged Malik Lyles, 22, of Spencer, with carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a stolen firearm and possession of a weapon on school grounds. He was issued a $100,000 secured bond and remains in the Rowan County jail.

Police received a report that someone with a gun was walking near the honors dorms and the event building. Officers checked the event building and found four students inside visibly distraught. The students said a black man wearing a white T-shirt, black jeans and white shoes and holding a gun was on campus.

The students said they didn’t see him enter a building but saw him from a window.

Salisbury Police contacted the Livingstone Campus Police to review video footage. A Salisbury officer found Lyles, who matched the description of the suspect, a few blocks away on Lloyd Street. He had taken off his shirt and was carrying it in his hands.

Lyles told the officer he was coming from campus. When asked why he was not wearing a shirt, Lyles said he was hot. The officer noticed a magazine clip in his front pants pocket. She detained him while a supervisor was en route. Lyles pulled away from the officer but eventually was handcuffed.

A Glock 23 handgun was found inside a pants pocket, according to a police report.

Lyles became combative, the report said, kicking and hitting his head on a window.

Police said the handgun was stolen in July in Mint Hill. Lyles had been involved in a dispute with someone earlier and returned to the college to look for that person, police said.

Police are looking for another suspect in the case.