On Wednesday, February 6th at 9:24 pm, SLU students received an alert regarding an armed robbery that took place outside of the Lindell exit of the library. Not much information was given in the alert except a description of the suspect and a message that stated, “If you in a safe loc stay there.” At 9:41pm, SLU students received a follow-up alert that the suspect was still at large and left the scene in a stolen car. They also stated that SLMPD and DPS were in the area, and that DPS escorts were available.
Despite the availability of escorts, many students were still left feeling uneasy to leave the library. It is quite unsettling that we now run the risk of being robbed at gunpoint simply by leaving the library. And since, to our knowledge, the suspect was never caught, it may even happen again.
It seems that many of us were caught off guard by how casually we were notified of the event, as the rhetoric almost downplayed the seriousness of it. Thankfully, no one got hurt to my knowledge, but it could have been much worse. I feel that it is SLU’s duty to provide more comfort to its students when it comes to our safety. We deserve more than casual messages mentioning a potentially dangerous situation taking place. I feel that we could benefit from a more organized system of notifying students so that in case something happens, we can be more prepared.