The Campus Police Department received a phone call on Oct. 7 of a shooting near Gleason-Hairston Hall. Witnesses said that they noticed an older model burgundy Dodge van.
According to the witnesses report, a male passenger fired rounds as the van sped away from the scene.
Campus Police received the call approximately 6:55 p.m. Campus Police dispatched officers to the area, but were unable to catch the vehicle in question, neither were they able to take any suspects into custody.
The Public Safety Office takes all firearm offenses on campus seriously.
The Virginia Tech shooting tragedy on April 16, 2007 left 33 people dead, many wounded, and generated a multitude of psychological repercussions that rippled through the country. The massacre was the largest of its kind in American history.
Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia, said that the Virginia Tech Police Department “did not take sufficient action to deal with what might happen,” referring to the prevention, as well as the containment of possible threat of gun violence on its campus.
Since then, there have been two notable college campus shootings: Feb. 14, 2008, on the campus of Northern Illinois University, a gunman killed five students and wounded 17 more. The shooter then used the weapon on himself after he opened fire on a classroom. The gunman, identified as Stephen P. Kazmierczak, was a graduate at the university in 2007; more recently, a University of Texas at Austin student, wielding an AK-47, terrorized the school he attended. Wearing a face mask, 19-year-old Colton Tooley stalked the campus Sept. 28, opening fire, using the automatic weapon with little regard. Tooley eventually turned the gun on himself. With the exception of the shooter, no one was injured in the event.
In the aftermath of these shootings, administrations nationwide took steps to reinsure the safety of campuses.
Because WSSU is a UNC school, its policy for firearms on campus is the same as all other UNC school campuses. According to the UNC Campus Safety Task Force Report: “North Carolina law is clear that it is a felony for an unauthorized person to possess a firearm on the property of an educational institution, including all UNC campuses.”
To help enforce the safety measures, Campus Police has set up a response system specifically focused on firearms complaints.
Eric Cabbell, the supervisor of communications at the Campus Police Department, is trained to handle the series of events associated with these calls.
“If a call comes in to dispatch that shots have been fired, we immediately dispatch our Campus Police officers to that location,” Cabbell said.
“We find out who, what, when, where; we find out if they’re on foot, in a car, what type of vehicle, and the direction they traveled in and was anyone injured.”
Cabbell said that Campus Police also notifies the Winston-Salem Police Department.
WSSU’s Campus Police installed a Pier System in the spring known as Ram Alert to notify everyone about weather warnings, natural disasters, or campus emergencies. It also sends out e-mails and text messages to those registered.
WSSU does not have a history of major gun violence.