East Carolina University was put on lockdown Wednesday, becoming the sixth N.C . campus to issue an alert due to a suspected or confirmed gunman since Oct. 28.
While the gun at ECU turned out to be an umbrella, it highlighted the increased incidents on campuses in the state.
Mary Schulken , director of public affairs at ECU, said there were no regrets to the response Wednesday.
“I don’t think that anything that happened today was a mistake,” Schulken said. “Clearly there was the perception that we had a potential threat and when that’s the case, at a university such as [ECU] with 27,000 plus students, 3,000 plus faculty and employees, you have to take immediate steps to protect those folks and the communities around you.”
The various recent incidents occurred Oct. 28 at N.C . State, Nov. 7 at one of Wake Tech’s north campuses, Nov. 9 at Campbell University, Nov. 11 at N.C . State, Nov. 8, 12 and 13 at Fayetteville State University, Nov. 14 at UNC-Wilmington and Nov. 16 at ECU.
Katherine Player, a freshman in textile design, said the recent incidents have made her a little uneasy about campus safety.
“Especially the one with the two girls [robbed by four men at gun point at North Hall] because it was right there and it was at not a crazy time and [they weren’t alone],” Player said.
For the most part, recent incidents went by without injuries. Fayetteville State students were physically assaulted in their dorm room Nov. 13 and a shotgun was fired by one of the five assailants, but according to the police report, no one was seriously injured.
University Deputy Police Chief John Barnwell did not return phone calls Wednesday, but UNCW chief David Donaldson said crime on and near campuses is not new, despite the increased frequency and publicity.
“I don’t think any of us are sitting up and saying, wow, there is crime on and around campus. That’s not a new phenomenon,” Donaldson said.
An armed robber fled onto the UNCW campus just before midnight Nov. 14 and was not found despite authorities’ search efforts.
Michael Pavelka , a freshman in First Year College, said he still felt safe on campus.
“It’s such a big campus. We had that one incident with the bank robber, but even then I felt safe. I felt like the Wolf Alert was a little bit lacking, but other than that, I wasn’t fearing for my safety,” Pavelka said.
University students and faculty complained Oct. 28 when an alleged bank robber fled to campus with what was then believed to be a gun and most people on campus only heard the alert message, “This is an emergency. Please seek shelter immediately.” People were upset because of the lack of detail in the broadcast message.
Students did not receive text messages and e-mails until half an hour after the all clear.
The explanation given by campus Police Chief Jack Moorman was the situation developed and cleared up so quickly, the all clear message came very soon after the initial alert. The delay in other forms of alerts was because was no longer danger on campus.
Alert systems at UNCW , Campbell and ECU operated smoothly for the most part during the incidents.
“[Campus police] learn something every time we use it. We learn more about its capability and more about what we need to work harder on,” Schulken said.
Donaldson said police prepare for these situations, but safety is a shared responsibility.
“Every one of us has a responsibility to protect ourselves. Some of it is being aware of resources, utilizing those resources, following instructions when they’re released [and] reporting suspicious circumstances,” Donaldson said. “The [personal safety] adages you heard growing up probably, apply just as well to you now.”
