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2-Hour Gap Leaves Room For Questions
Freshman Ryan Fowler hugs his father, Tim, right, as his mother, MaryEllen, hugs another student. Fowler's parents drove from Maryland to pick him up.
(By Steve Helber -- Associated Press)
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The university was aware of the challenges involved in reaching students during a crisis, even in an age when everyone seems to be wired. In August, a jail inmate escaped, fatally shot a hospital guard and a sheriff's deputy and then hid on campus on the first day of classes, setting off a manhunt that shut down campus.
The university posted updates on its Web site that day and sent out e-mails, but it took longer for the news to reach students who were commuting to school and were not online.
A campus spokesman said earlier this semester that the university was working with a company to provide a service that would send out text-message alerts to students' cellphones. The university was considering requiring students to give their cellphone numbers when they register for classes, he said.
Yesterday, Steger said that the university would review its emergency response policies again in light of the shootings but that only so much could be done to prepare for unforeseen disasters.
"It's very difficult. This is an open society and an open campus with 26,000 people, and we can't have armed guards in front of every classroom every day of the year," he said. "It was one of those things no one anticipated. . . . Honestly, every situation we face is different."
It was not until 9:50 a.m., after the Norris Hall shootings, that a stronger e-mail warning from the university reached students: "A gunman is loose on campus. Stay in buildings until further notice. Stay away from all windows."
A third e-mail went out at 10:16, canceling classes and asking students to stay put. And it was 10:52, more than an hour after the Norris Hall shootings, that an e-mail went out stating that the attack had occurred.
Justin Born, a junior from Centreville, had left for his 10:10 class after checking his e-mail and seeing the first 9:26 notice about being "cautious."
"I was like, 'All right.' I decided to go to class, because I didn't think it was that big of a deal," he said.
After parking on campus and walking to class, he saw people running to cars and running from the campus, shouting about the second shooting. It was only after he got home that he saw the e-mail about classes being canceled.
"I don't know how to describe it," he said. "It just seems, I don't know, immature. I don't if immature is the right word, but it doesn't seem like Virginia Tech did the right thing by not canceling class after a shooting. It was ridiculous."
