Although Florida State has one of the nation's most advanced emergency-alert systems — sending alerts on 37 platforms including text, Twitter and Instagram — no notice was sent until police had arrived and killed the gunman.
"If you're the first person to get shot, there's really no warning," said David Bujak, the university's director of emergency management. "It's like a bolt of lightning."
Therein lies the challenge. The Oct. 1 mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg has renewed discussion of emergency-alert systems, especially after reports that Umpqua's might not have worked.
Even if it had, the alerts might not have spared any of the nine people killed. That's the reality for campus officials in Oregon and elsewhere seeking to defend against attacks that are getting faster and more frequent.
"We're constantly reminded that we need to be one step ahead of what people are thinking about doing," said David Blake, the assistant vice president for human resources at Oregon State University who runs the campus alert system. "If it can happen in Roseburg, it can happen in Portland, Corvallis or Eugene."
After the , Congress updated the Clery Act to require colleges that receive federal funding to have campus alert systems. Virginia Tech officials were criticized for not sending an alert until two hours after the shooting began.
Similarly, the Columbine High School shooting in 1999 went on for nearly an hour as the shooters prowled the building, killing 12 students and a teacher.
Recent shootings have happened much quicker. In 2013, the shooter at Sandy Hook Elementary killed 26 people in about 10 minutes. The incident was mostly confined to a small area of the school, and the gunman killed himself before police arrived.
At Umpqua, the shooter killed nine people and injured nine more in about 10 minutes — all in or just outside one room — before police arrived. Authorities said the gunman then killed himself after exchanging gunfire with detectives.
"This thing happened so fast, and quite frankly I don't know if the resources in that campus had a way to figure out what they had and what to do," said Bill Taylor, president of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators and chief of police at San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Texas. "That notification, probably they couldn't get it out fast enough to help anybody who was injured or killed."
Although the systems were developed for shootings, colleges also use them for minor threats such as weather alerts. Federal law doesn't specify what kind of alert systems colleges should use, who gets the alerts, or how quickly alerts should be sent during a shooting.
"We can't afford any delays," Bujak said. "When the issue is seconds between life and death, we can't afford minutes."
Oregon State is transitioning from an opt-out to an opt-in system, meaning students won't receive alerts unless they sign up.
When a threat is reported, Blake and three top university officials hold a conference call, sometimes including Oregon State Police. Then they use Blackboard Connect, a mass notification software program, to blast the alert to faculty, students and staff via text, email and voicemail.
The University of Oregon uses a similar system. Officials can also post alerts on digital display boards in the student union and dining halls. Both schools post alerts on their websites as well.
Central Oregon Community College uses an opt-out system, meaning students automatically receive messages unless they choose not to. It was put to the test Jan. 26, when police heard reports of gunfire near the Madras campus.
"Generally speaking, we're a commuter campus," said Ron Paradis, the executive director of college relations. "Alerting people not to come to campus is often the most important thing we do."
The University of Oregon sent out an alert in July warning of a man spotted with a rifle near Autzen Stadium. It turned out to be an umbrella. The university sent another in September warning of a bomb threat for Lane Transit District buses near campus.
It's still unclear which alerts worked at Umpqua during the shooting. Three professors told The Oregonian/OregonLive in the days that followed that they didn't receive alerts on their computers or cellphones. Interim President Rita Cavin responded that she heard conflicting reports. The school hasn't responded to requests for comment since.
A spokeswoman for Blackboard Connect, which provides the platform for Umpqua's notification system, said she has no reason to believe the system failed.
"If the system was in working order," Tracey Stout said, "you would have to have a person activate it."
A secretary in the campus facilities department did send a campuswide email at 10:42 a.m., about four minutes after the first 911 calls came in, to tell everyone to go into lockdown.
Alerts alone won't save lives, officials said. The University of Oregon offers violence-prevention training that includes what to do in an active-shooter situation, said Julie Brown, the campus relations director for risk services.
Two trainings this week for students and faculty will drill participants on how to run, hide and — if all else fails — fight the shooter.
Such training, Brown said, "is more important than any notification system in place."
———
©2015 The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.)
Visit The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) at www.oregonian.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
