A search warrant for the University of Richmond gun scare suspect's home says he went into a campus library on Tuesday and told a worker there that he had heard people were having sex inside the building.

According to the warrant to search the home of Seth A. Newman, a UR library employee said the suspect was wearing a sheriff's jacket "stated to her that he was a police officer, and that he had heard that people had been fornicating in the library and that he needed to spend the night." The worker "asked for identification, he did not produce any, and then left the building."

Also, the warrant - issued yesterday in Henrico County - states that a person matching the description of the UR suspect was seen leaving St. Joseph's Home for the Aged at noon Tuesday, shortly before the incident at UR.

Newman, 19, appeared briefly in Richmond General District Court this morning.

He was charged yesterday on Richmond warrants with a felony count of hiding his identity and misdemeanor counts of impersonating a police officer and acting like a police officer.

Wearing a dark blue blazer and khaki pants, Newman was arraigned before Judge David E. Cheek Sr. The next hearing on the case was set for July 3. Newman, represented by David Whaley, was released on $10,000 bond.

The judge ordered him to stay off UR property.

UR Police Chief Robert Dillard said yesterday that the weapon Newman is believed to have had with him during the incident was a pellet gun.

Relieved university officials, including President Edward L. Ayers, and police from three jurisdictions told reporters last night that Newman visited the school Tuesday afternoon, but they gave no explanation for the visit.

Newman has worked as a dishwasher for three years at St. Joseph's Home for the Aged, run by the Little Sisters of the Poor near the Koger West Office Park in western Henrico.

He was on his day off Tuesday when the UR incident occurred, said Stephen Neill, a spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond.

"The people at Little Sisters have a high regard for Seth and are praying for him," Neill said. "He was well-liked, and there was no sign that there was something bothering him."

Police listed Newman's address as in the 1700 block of Chadwick Drive in Henrico, only a few blocks from his job.

The UR campus was placed on alert Tuesday afternoon after a young man was turned away from Boatwright Library because he did not have proper identification, police said.

Staffers notified police because they were concerned about his appearance and because he seemed to have a weapon.

Richmond's and Henrico's police chiefs praised their counterparts at UR yesterday, saying that efforts to alert students and neighboring jurisdictions were well-done.

Graduation ceremonies get under way at the university this weekend.

Contact Bill McKelway at (804) 649-6601 or bmckelway@timesdispatch.com.