Drug Deal Gone Bad Started UMass Campus Lockdown; Framingham Teen Held Without Bail

A Framingham teen, 19, charged with armed assault, was arraigned in court in Western Massachusetts yesterday, Feb. 22. He was held until a bail hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 24.

William McKeown, 19 of Framingham was charged with armed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and assault on Monday in Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown.

McKeown turned himself into Framingham Police on Friday at 12:45 p.m., after an arrest warrant was issued for him Friday morning, following a manhunt and a lockdown of the UMass Amherst campus on Thursday night.

According to court documents, McKeown and a man only known as “Big Al” were let into the Pierpont dorm in UMass by a Class of 2015 Framingham High graduate. That freshman UMass student brought McKeown and “Big Al” to his dorm room.

According to UMass Detective Kevin Shaw’s report filed with the Court, the roommate of the 2015 Framingham High graduate planned to purchase marijuana from McKeown and “Big Al.”

While in the dorm, there was a disagreement, and the two suspects left the room with the marijuana and $120.

The roommate chased after McKeown and the other suspect and was attacked near the elevator. Court documents indicate that UMass freshman was likely hit in the head by McKeown with the Framingham teen’s gun.

UMass instituted a shelter-in-place Thursday night upon reports of a man with a gun on campus. UMass is a gun-free campus.

The unidentified UMass student was transported to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton with minor injuries that included a head laceration, UMass Police Chief Tyrone Parham said in a press conference last week. He was treated and released.

Police swarmed Pierpont Hall on the college campus after calls came in at 5:17 p.m. Thursday. No shots were ever fired. The suspects escaped from campus.

Video evidence showed the two male suspects entering the Hall by a UMass student, according to police.

Interviews with that 2015 Framingham High graduate, who was roommates with the student injured, led Umass Police to contact Framingham Police.

The vehicle McKeown and another suspect left the UMass campus in was found in Framingham Thursday night, near Water and Hemenway Streets, said Framingham Police Lt. Stephen Cronin.

Framingham Patch was the first media outlet to break that news on Thursday morning.

Police searched two residences in that Nobscot neighborhood of Framingham Thursday night.