On Friday, February 12 a visitor to a classroom on Western’s campus got cited for carrying a concealed weapon without proper permit on his person. Permit or not, only police officers are legally allowed to wield a gun on our university’s campus. You can imagine the fright experienced by the students in the classroom where it all went down, especially during a time in our country where school shootings have become all too regular. Many students noticed the handgun in the visitor’s waistband, so one student exited the classroom to call University Police. Officers arrived ready to respond to an unknown situation that had the potential to escalate into the dreaded scenario of having an active shooter on Western’s campus. The visitor cooperated, handed over his gun to the officers, was detained, and removed from campus.
Luckily it appears that the visitor had no malicious intent to use the weapon…but what if he had? Would you have known what to do? Has Western made an effort to prepare and educate their students and faculty on what to do in these types of terrifying scenarios? In my opinion, Western should be doing more. Each classroom on campus has a booklet called “Western Emergency Response Guide” hanging by the door that describes how to respond in emergency situations. Unfortunately, these booklets and their valuable information go unnoticed by students and even faculty. In the case of an “Act of Violence in Progress,” the guide recommends the following.
If shots are fired, take protective measures. Use your best judgement and follow these actions:
RUN
If you are certain you are not within range or in danger of shots fired and exiting the building is possible, the following actions are recommended:
- Have an escape route in mind. Exit the building immediately.
- Encourage others to exit the building immediately and do not allow others to enter.
- Leave belongings behind.
- Keep your hands visible.
- Follow the instructions of any police officers.
- Do not attempt to move wounded people.
- When you are safe, call University Police at (360) 650-3911. If you are off campus, call 911.
HIDE
If evacuation is not possible, the following actions are recommended:
- Get out of the shooter’s view.
- Go to the nearest room or office and/or hide behind something that may protect you from shots fired in your direction. Lock the door and/or barricade it with heavy furniture.
- Cover the door windows, if possible.
- Keep quiet. Silence phones and any other source of noise.
- Do not answer the door.
- Call University Police at (360) 650-3911. If you are off campus, call 911.
FIGHT
If you are caught in the immediate area and escape is not possible, as a last resort, and only when your life is in imminent danger, attempt to disrupt and/or incapacitate the shooter by:
- Acting as aggressively as possible against him/her.
- Throwing items and improvising weapons.
- Yelling.
- Committing to your actions.
How to respond when law enforcement arrives:
- Remain calm, and follow officers’ instructions.
- Put down any items in your hands, raise hands and spread fingers.
- Avoiding pointing, screaming, yelling, and/or making quick movements.
- Do not stop to ask officers for help or direction, proceed to the direction form which officers came.
The first officers to arrive will not stop to help injured persons. Teams will come later to treat any injured persons. Once you have reached a safe location or assembly point, you may be held in that area by law enforcement until the situation is under control, and all witnesses have been identified and questioned. Do not leave the area until law enforcement authorities instruct you to do so.
As a student at Western, I feel unprepared to respond to an emergency situation such as an active shooter on campus. It is fair to say that these situations are hard to prepare for and it is difficult to predict how you will personally respond unless you find yourself in the actual situation. I took the time to look further into how Western tries to prepare its community for emergencies. Besides offering Western Alert e-mails and text messages to students and faculty, there isn’t much being done if you don’t take the time to seek the information out yourself. The University Police website offers recommendations should a shooting incident occur. Campus Safety Resources also provides a video that reiterates much of the information found in the Western Emergency Response Guide, which is all valuable information for anyone should they find themselves in an active shooter situation.
Unless you personally seek out information from Western on your own, there are not many efforts to prepare students and faculty for an active shooter on campus. Faculty should be receiving training for these types of situations, and students should be more exposed to this information on campus. Maybe that means that the RUN, HIDE, FIGHT video should be presented at new student orientations, or even sent out as a requirement of all students to view through Canvas.
I encourage everyone to educate themselves on recommended measures to take during emergency situations. One thing you can start doing today is surveying all of the places you regularly spend time at on campus and come up with a personal plan of action for escape if you ever faced an active shooting situation.