Georgia man charged after rifle found on Siena University campus

A late-night report of a suspicious vehicle at Siena University turned into a fast-moving campus security response, with police saying an AR-15-style rifle was later found in plain view at a Loudon Road hotel and a Georgia man was taken into custody.

Colonie police said they were called to the Colonie campus just after 11 p.m. Friday, May 1, after witnesses reported an unauthorized vehicle on campus and said a person inside displayed a rifle. Officers and Siena University Public Safety personnel coordinated their response, and police said campus video helped them identify the vehicle quickly.

Police later found the vehicle unoccupied at a La Quinta Inn and Suites on Loudon Road and located all three occupants inside the hotel. Authorities said the rifle and attached magazine belonged to Michael Sanchez, 20, of Forest Park, Georgia, and that neither item could be legally possessed in New York State.

Sanchez was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon for an assault rifle, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon for a large-capacity ammunition device, criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds, and criminal possession of a firearm. He was arraigned in Colonie Town Court and held in the Albany County Correctional Facility on $25,000 cash or $50,000 bond.

Police said no threat was made to any Siena student or to the university in general, a key detail for families watching how campus safety systems hold up when a weapon is reported near classrooms and residence halls. Siena University’s weapons policy prohibits firearms on university premises, including rifles, pistols and handguns, and New York law makes it unlawful for anyone 16 or older to knowingly possess a weapon on educational grounds without written authorization.

The case echoes broader anxiety over guns on college campuses in the region, including a separate March 2026 Syracuse University incident in which police said a man was found on campus with a rifle and ammunition. For Central New York schools, the Siena response offers a clear test of whether campus surveillance, public safety staff and local police can spot a problem early enough to keep students out of harm’s way.