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`I guess I’m old fashioned when it comes to safety. With the events of the “gunman” scare on campus last night, my eyes have been opened to certain aspects of campus that I had previously put on the backburner.
Preparing for a night class, in which it was presentation night, I received a text message from MUPD stating, “Individual possibly carrying a rifle near Stayer, use caution.”
After rereading the message a few times, it finally sunk in. Here I was, on campus, with a possible gunman. My firs reaction was to laugh at how stupid this text message sounded. I have never heard of anyone ever using the advise of using caution, when it came to someone carrying a gun near me.
Working for The Snapper, I had the privilege of being contacted by people in the office. Trying to attain more information on the situation, I tried to call MUPD. After being told very sternly that the sirens had not sounded, so there was no lockdown, I still had no answers to my questions.
Why should the students be forced to stay in the dark while a police investigation is occurring on the same campus grounds that we are currently located? I comply with the fact that rumors or accusations are never a good thing, but what happens during the time of the police investigation while the students are nervously sitting in their classes wondering whether it is safe to emerge and walk about campus?
I really don’t think it’s too much to ask, to receive information in a timely and respective manner, when dealing with our personal well-being. The sirens should have been sounded along with a lockdown, even if this was only a rumor. We should be “better safe than sorry.”
MUPD does an excellent job during the semesters, I just feel this is one area where no matter how much students complain about “being in the dark”, we still never get the answers we are looking for during emergencies.
Thankfully, the gunman scare happened to be a student using a fake cardboard replica of a gun for educational purposes. What happens, if there is a next time, and we are not so lucky to have it be a false alarm?