The incident occurred at approximately 2:30 p.m. after students tipped the University's Public Safety Office to the suspect's whereabouts outside an academic building. Within minutes a heavy NYPD presence secured the entire grounds of the Queens Campus.
Immediately afterward, the University's Emergency Response Plan, including its "Text Messaging System," went into effect. At 2:38 p.m., the St. John's community was advised to stay in classrooms and remain in buildings and offices until the campus could be secured. All classes were immediately cancelled for the remainder of the day.
"I am grateful that the plan which we had in place for emergency situations worked and worked well," said Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M., President of St. John's University. "And, I'm also grateful for the vigilance of our students who alerted us to the problem, our Public Safety Office's quick response and the NYPD, who arrived on campus only minutes after a 911 call to assume full responsibility for the safety of our campus."
The University's "Text Messaging System" went into effect at the beginning of the 2007-08 school year after concerns regarding the Virginia Tech tragedy. Students sign up for the program online and receive emergency information from the University instantaneously.
"We're going to continue to push to have everyone sign up for the text messaging service," said St. John's University's Vice President for Public Safety, Thomas Lawrence. "The message got out quickly today and we were fortunate that no one was hurt."
"The University's response yesterday serves as a national model," said NYC Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, "St. John's newly instituted emergency text messaging system worked like a charm."
