Cal Poly students arrested for firing gunshots on campus

November 17, 2023

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

Cal Poly police officers arrested a pair of students who allegedly fired gunshots on campus and had a weapons cache inside their on-campus apartment or dormitory. 

Shortly after 10 p.m. on Nov. 11, while on patrolCal Poly police officers heard gunshots in the Poly Canyon Village area. Police dispatch then received several calls from campus residents reporting sounds of gunshots.

Officers arrived at the scene and found Charles Hojaboom and Brandon Pham in possession of a shotgun and a loaded, concealed pistol. Police also found a campus sign along the road with bullet holes, according to the Cal Poly Police Department. 

Police reportedly found a weapons cache and ammunition inside the students’ housing.

There were no reports of any injuries. All indications are the students were firing at targets, not people, university police say. 

Authorities booked Hojaboom and Pham in SLO County Jail. Their charges include shooting into an occupied dwelling, possession of a loaded firearm on a university campus, vandalism, carrying a concealed weapon on one’s person, possession of a stun gun on a university campus, carrying a loaded firearm in public under specific circumstances and willful discharge of a firearm in a grossly negligent manner. 

Both Hojaboom and Pham bailed out of jail.

In the weeks leading up to the Nov. 11 incident, multiple individuals reported hearing gunshots on campus, parents of Cal Poly students allege. Parents say they are concerned about campus safety, despite efforts by the university to reassure them.

On Thursday evening, five days following the shooting, Cal Poly issued a Clery Act warning bulletin. The Clery Act requires colleges and universities to disclose certain information about crime on campuses. 

Cal Poly says it issued the Clery warning only out of an abundance of caution. University officials say the warning was not necessary, at least initially, because the criminal incident did not pose a potential serious or ongoing threat to the campus community. 

“With additional information recently coming to light in the investigation, including the fact that both students bailed out of jail, a Clery notification to campus was made yesterday out of an abundance of caution,” Cal Poly Police Chief George Hughes and Vice President for Civil Rights and Compliance Maren Hutton said in a statement on Friday. 

The San Luis Obispo Police Department is assisting university police with the investigation. The investigation remains ongoing, and the case has been referred to the SLO County District Attorney’s Office.

Cal Poly’s Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities is conducting a separate investigation. University administrators have banned both Hojaboom and Pham from the Cal Poly campus as the criminal case and student conduct investigation are ongoing.