Listen Here
By Pulse Staff
It was the message no college campus community wants to see. On Wednesday evening, Feb. 13, Michigan State University sent this message to students, faculty, and staff:
Shots have been fired at Michigan State University and police are warning of an active shooter. This is an active and ongoing situation. The incident occurred at 8:18 p.m. inside Berkey Hall. Police are actively working to secure campus. Suspect is still at large and believed to be on foot.
All persons on campus and in neighboring community should immediately shelter in place and secure the room they are in.
All classes, sporting events and other organized university activities are canceled for the next 48 hours.
Then several more messages went out to the MSU campus. At 12:05 a.m., Feb. 14 people on campus were told to shelter in place and that activities on campus would be suspended for the next 48 hours. Families of MSU students were told to not come to campus. At that time authorities did not have a suspect in custody and the danger remained.
An hour later, authorities let the campus know that the threat was over and Counseling and Psychiatric Services and the Employee Assistance Program would be available to help those traumatized by the incident.
MSU said normal operations would start on Thursday, Feb. 16 but all online and face-to-face were canceled for the rest of the week.
The school said at 9 a.m. university counseling and local providers would be on hand at the Hannah Community Center, an East Lansing facility, for students, faculty, staff, and MSU family members until 9 p.m.
Last fall, University of Findlay Chief of Police and Director of Security Bill Spraw told the Pulse that UF campus has its own crisis response plan in place, just in case an active shooter incident were to happen on campus.
“Our officers train for an active shooter event with the two other agencies, the (Hancock County) Sheriff’s office and the (Findlay) Police Department,” Spraw said.
UF follows the Run, Hide, Fight protocol:
- Run- If you can safely evacuate the area, do so.
- Hide- If you cannot run, then your next best option is to find a safe location to hide.
- Fight- As a last resort, if you can’t run and have nowhere to hide, your last option is to fight.
Brandi Laurita, University of Findlay vice president for Student Affairs and Athletics, sent a message out to the UF campus about the shooting at MSU.
The University of Findlay would like to express our condolences to the entire Michigan State University community for the tragedy that happened last night. We hope and pray that they will be able to find peace and healing and that efforts and prevention of any further escalation and violence continue.
The University of Findlay also acknowledges events like these are impactful to our campus community, especially when they happen in such close proximity.
We recognize that members of our community and their families may be affected by these events, and that others who have experienced violence at other times in personal ways may also be struggling due to this conflict. As a community of compassion, we ask that all of our community members be sensitive to the situation and its impact on others.
One of our core values at UF is to care for one another. If you are experiencing hardship from this tragic situation, know that you have the support of your UF community. Please do not hesitate to reach out through your networks and to access resources, such as Counseling Services (counselingservices@findlay.edu), the Buford Center for Diversity & Service (419-434-5798), and the Cosiano Health Center (cosiano@findlay.edu).
An MSU news release states that five victims remain in critical condition at the hospital. It identified the fatalities as junior Arielle Anderson and sophomore Brian Frazer, both of Grosse Pointe, Michigan and junior Alexandria Verner of Clawson, Michigan.
