Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Strange, New World...

published March 4, 2008 12:15 am

BOONE — Appalachian State University locked down all campus buildings for more than an hour Monday as authorities searched for a man seen carrying a gun nearby.
Students on campus were alerted over campus public address systems and by e-mail, said Forrest Gilliam, president of the school’s student govern-ment association. “Everyone’s relieved,” Gilliam said. “With the technology we had in place, I think communication to the students went well.”
Some students said they appreciated the response in the wake of school shootings last year at Virginia Tech and last month at Northern Illinois University, said Clair Baxter, editor-in-chief of the Appalachian, the student newspaper.
Baxter said she and her staff were locked in the second floor of the student union. Officials with walkie-talkies had students sign in, and no one could leave the buildings.
No shots were fired, and no injuries were reported. Officials canceled night classes before lifting the lockdown shortly after 6:30 p.m., after no further sightings of the man were reported.
Appalachian State police and Boone police consulted before the school ended the lockdown, school spokeswoman Lynn Drury said.
Baxter said she was surprised the university did not immediately cancel classes after the gunman was reported trying to break into a student apartment.
“I thought they could have had just a little quicker response,” she said.
The lockdown came just hours after school officials sent a campuswide e-mail to students updating them about plans for an emergency messaging service. Many universities are deploying such systems in a response to last year’s shootings at Virginia Tech, where a student gunman killed 32 people and himself.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

did you hear it was a hoax. some student told cops that he was being robbed b/c he didn't want to fix his broken door. then told them the gunman took off through campus. well, at least app's police, watauga police and campus had a productive drill. good job app!