A reminder on safety during an active threat on campus 

Over the past several weeks in the United States, there have been multiple gun related incidents on school campuses across varying levels of education. On Aug. 27, a shooter opened fire outside of a church at a Catholic school in Minnesota, killing two students and injuring 18 others. On Sept. 10, a Colorado high school student opened fire, critically wounding two students and killing himself. 

On Sept. 11, several historically black colleges and universities were the targets of “terroristic threats,” forcing them to go on lockdown. The list of schools included Southern University and A&M College. 

Amid these national incidents, there has been a renewed interest in campus safety. Though they seem to dominate the news cycle, according to the Pew Research Center, deaths in mass shooting incidents are a small fraction of all gun murders nationwide each year. 

On Sept. 4, the Louisiana Board of Regents sent an email to students that linked an updated educational video titled “Run, Hide, Fight.” The video outlines how to respond during an active threat and describes the basic principles of Run, Hide, Fight (RHF). 

“Students and faculty and staff members can apply the RHF principles in the event of an active threat to better protect themselves and others,” the email stated. 

Sergeant Lance Frederick, a public information officer for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s (ULPD) police department, said the main goals of ULPD during threats of violence towards the campus is to first, find the individual, see if there is validity to the threat, check their state of mind and get them the resources they need. 

In the event of an active shooter on campus, Frederick stated the main goal would be to stop any violence that has taken place and address the shooter. Next, they would use the Emergency Notification System (ENS) to alert everyone of what is happening on campus. The ENS messaging system can call phone numbers, send text messages and emails. 

Frederick explained that the intensity of the system is so law enforcement can make sure students are notified no matter what. Frederick also explained how the officers of ULPD go through extensive training to prepare for any active shooter event. These trainings happen in different buildings across campus to prepare for different situations. 

Officers are trained in medical first aid, critical care, tourniquet use and CPR. They are also trained on how to use firearms during these scenarios. “We try to make it as realistic as possible. We use simulation rounds, which can be put into our service weapons, and it shoots a paint projectile. It doesn’t feel good. And it adds to the, you know, the hype of it and the attitude adjustment,” Frederick said. 

Coordination with other law enforcement departments is also a priority during training since, along with ULPD, the Lafayette Police Department and the Lafayette Parish Sheriff ‘s Office are all within a mile radius of campus, and they would all respond to an active shooter event. Sometimes, the drama team from Lafayette High School comes to pretend to be a part of the active shooter training, all in an effort to give officers the most realistic training. 

Overall, Frederick wants to remind students who might have a fear of an active shooter event, “Again…, make sure that ENS is updated. Do the ‘Run, Hide, Fight,’ know what to expect and that…if you see something, say something, to help us out on that end, but our officers are trained to deal with these situations.” 

Dr. Amy Brown, an associate professor of social psychology, explained that exposure to violence, and guns in particular, can exacerbate the likelihood of aggression in people. Along with exposure to guns, when people are primed with imagery of guns and are provoked, then they tend to respond more aggressively. 

Though she noted it was outside of her specific realm of knowledge, when asked how to cope with the fear of an active shooter event, Brown said, “We…need to find that psychological balance between brushing the problem off and being so anxious about it that, you know, it either… affects our mental health or leads us to want to respond aggressively to any perceived threat.” 

The University’s campus is a designated weapons free zone. According to the University’s website, “Firearms of any kinds, bullets or other ammunition, knives with blades longer than four inches, switchblades, arrows, oriental weapons, spear guns, BB guns, airsoft guns, water guns or any type of weapon projectile launchers” are not allowed on campus.