Ex-law student pleads guilty to bringing gun to NC State in fraternity revenge plot
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- Zachary Olson pleaded guilty to bringing a gun onto N.C. State’s campus in 2024.
- A judge granted probation with strict conditions under NC’s felony discharge law.
- Olson must undergo therapy, perform service, and stay off campus for two years.
A Cary man will get special supervision by the State Bureau of Investigation for the next two years after pleading guilty to bringing a gun onto N.C. State’s campus.
Zachary Paul Olson, 24, was arrested Sept. 9 after displaying a Ruger Max-9 pistol to two women outside of a Chipotle near campus, The News & Observer previously reported.
The women told police Olson asked them which fraternity at the school was the “rapiest,” and when they asked why, he pulled the gun out and said he planned to “teach them a lesson,” search warrants state.
Campus police arrested Olson on Dan Allen Drive, about 2 miles from the restaurant. He was charged with having a gun on educational property and carrying a concealed weapon. Olson later told investigators he wanted to execute “vigilante justice” on rapists at universities and fraternities after he overheard his ex-girlfriend being raped at a party at Clemson five years ago, The N&O previously reported.
When asked if he planned to kill people, Olson reportedly said yes, then no, according to search warrants. He admitted he’d walked to Greek Village, where N.C. State’s on-campus sororities and fraternities are located, but wasn’t angry after arriving.
Police found the loaded pistol in Olson’s waistband, search warrants state.
At the time of the incident, Olson was a third-year law student at Campbell University and a part-time intern with the Wake County District Attorney’s Office. He is no longer enrolled at Campbell and was fired from his internship upon his arrest, The N&O previously reported.
Olson graduated from N.C. State in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in economics, university officials said.
After Olson pleaded guilty to both charges Wednesday, Judge Mark Stevens granted him a “felony discharge” — a provision in North Carolina law that allows those convicted of certain felonies to receive probation. Should Olson successfully complete two years of probation, his charges would be dismissed.
Stevens also ordered Olson to:
- Complete 225 hours of community service within the first 360 days of probation.
- Remain under a psychiatrist’s care, including attending individual therapy sessions weekly.
- Attend three Alcoholics Anonymous meetings a week.
- Sign waivers allowing his providers to share medical information with probation officials and the State Bureau of Investigation’s BeTA unit, which assesses people at risk of acts of targeted violence.
- Fully participate in the BeTA unit’s treatment assessment process.
- Appear at all court-ordered status hearings.
- Avoid consuming alcohol.
- Stay away from all N.C. State property, including the Greek Village.
- Forfeit his rights to the seized Rutger and ammunition.
The SBI’s BeTA unit was created after the February 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, according to the SBI’s website. It is a partnership between university police departments and state and federal law enforcement.
Olson will next appear in court Nov. 10 for a hearing to evaluate his compliance with the terms of his discharge.
