“Steven Mortensen, who was arrested Monday for his comments posted on Facebook, is now building support from those who know him. One of the people closest to him is Adam Pearson, a political science major. I don’t support what Steve did, I know Steve and I know a lot of people that know Steve and it’s pretty obvious he wasn’t a threat, Pearson said.”
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Steven Mortensen, who was arrested Monday for his comments posted on Facebook, is now building support from those who know him.

One of the people closest to him is Adam Pearson, a political science major.

I don’t support what Steve did, I know Steve and I know a lot of people that know Steve and it’s pretty obvious he wasn’t a threat, Pearson said.

In Pearson’s opinion, the police could have gone about Mortensen’s threat in a completely different manor, especially since they did not find any weapons in his room.

They could have had the police go and talk to him, Pearson said. At that point I think they could have worked something out, disciplinary actions maybe.

Pearson also said he could safely say that Steve Mortensen does not belong in jail.

Pearson said he spoke with Mortensen on Monday night on AOL in which he said Mortensen did not seem any different.

He didn’t seem anything out of the ordinary, he said he was angry. But he talked about coming over today and hanging out after class, Pearson said.

Regardless of what has happened, Pearson says that Mortensen is a good person. However, he said Mortensen is not the happiest on earth.

He hasn’t had the greatest life, he’s had a rough life, Pearson said. In some ways I think it was a cry for help.

Attempts to reach Mortensen and his family were unsuccessful.

Mortensen was an avid UA sports fan and a member of the AK-Rowdies.

President of the Rowdies, Willie Kollman, a Communications major, said that he worked with him in the Gallucci Residence Hall and saw him at several events.

Kollman described Mortensen as a genuine person but the silent underdog in every situation. He also stated that he believed he struggled with friendships.

I think he has struggled to keep friendships just because of the way he is, Kollman said.

I don’t think he meant to hurt someone, all he wanted was a friend.

Kollman admitted that his first thoughts after hearing about Mortensen were of worry.

My thoughts were worry because knowing him those words are kind of unlikely.

Kollman said that he has two thoughts about the situation.

One thought is it’s a harmless prank or not even that it’s something he is frustrated with and just threw out there.

The second part is he did mean some of it, he said. I don’t think he intentionally meant that he was going to come on campus and hurt anybody.

Kollman did however discuss his worry for Mortensen.

I am worried that he might hurt himself, Kollman said. I think he is a good person, he has struggled through college to keep friendships around.

The University of Akron is all he has and he is proud of Akron, Kollman said. It’s kind of sad now that something that he wrote in the matter of a half an hour has screwed his life up pretty big.

Ian Tayek, an accounting student, is also a member of the AK-Rowdies that knows Mortensen.

Tayek said Mortensen liked being friends with people. When Tayek heard what happened, he said he was surprised.

It kind of shocked me, Tayek said. I didn’t really see him as that type of person.

He did say that he thought he might have a little bit of an anger issue.

He got a little angry at little things that didn’t matter and he would start screaming at you, Tayek said.

Ashlee Webb, a graphic design student, said that she had class with Mortensen.

He was one of those people who tried almost too hard to make friends with people, Webb said.

Webb recalled him telling her that he had tried to join five fraternities in which he was turned down by all of them.

When she first heard what happened she said she was scared, freaked out and shocked.

I was really surprised, he didn’t seem like the person who would say something like that, Webb said.

Multiple attempts to reach UA Police Chief Paul Callahan over the course of three days went unreturned.

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