On Friday, an undercover campus officer barged into a classroom on Elizabeth State University to act out an emergency drill on the campus. He even held a gun to the professor's head. The officer carried a red plastic gun but according to the professor, he didn't have time to realize the gun was fake.
The school started sending out email alerts to students that signed up for the alerts stating there would be some type of drill on Friday but did not mention what type and any details of the drill. Shortly before the drill on Friday, the school sent out another alert stating there would be an armed intruder in Moore building but did not specify which classroom.
The problem is that only have half the campus signed up for these alerts. Most of the students in the classroom as well as the professor had no idea this was going on. According to Professor Jinbin Wang, everyone was scared and some students were prepared to jump out of the window.
When the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Anthony Brown was asked about the incident, he apologized for scaring or shocking everyone. He mentioned they sent out the email and text alerts but agreed that he knew only half of the campus had signed up for them. Then he added that they should also be relying on word of mouth to communicate these types of things.
I remember being in school and having fire drills. I'm pretty certain that most of the faculty knew about them when they happened. But to have someone barge into a classroom with a gun to act out one of these violent crimes as a drill is going a bit too far in my opinion. What if someone would have been carrying a concealed firearm? I know it is illegal to do so in North Carolina but what if? I bet they aren't planning any drill like these in Utah where it IS legal to carry concealed on campus.
The school started sending out email alerts to students that signed up for the alerts stating there would be some type of drill on Friday but did not mention what type and any details of the drill. Shortly before the drill on Friday, the school sent out another alert stating there would be an armed intruder in Moore building but did not specify which classroom.
The problem is that only have half the campus signed up for these alerts. Most of the students in the classroom as well as the professor had no idea this was going on. According to Professor Jinbin Wang, everyone was scared and some students were prepared to jump out of the window.
When the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Anthony Brown was asked about the incident, he apologized for scaring or shocking everyone. He mentioned they sent out the email and text alerts but agreed that he knew only half of the campus had signed up for them. Then he added that they should also be relying on word of mouth to communicate these types of things.
I remember being in school and having fire drills. I'm pretty certain that most of the faculty knew about them when they happened. But to have someone barge into a classroom with a gun to act out one of these violent crimes as a drill is going a bit too far in my opinion. What if someone would have been carrying a concealed firearm? I know it is illegal to do so in North Carolina but what if? I bet they aren't planning any drill like these in Utah where it IS legal to carry concealed on campus.