Disaster Drill Labeled a Success
By Tom Missel
Director of Media Relations/Marketing
Wednesday’s St. Bonaventure University campus disaster drill was dissected for two hours Thursday morning, and while some minor problems were discussed, all parties directly involved agreed on one point: The drill was a resounding success.
“As I’ve talked about this plan with my peers in higher education, I think we’ve set the bar pretty high here,” said Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., university president.
Police agencies applauded the exhaustive nature in which the university planned for the drill.
“I’ve overseen a number of drills like this, and I just have to say the level of detail and cooperation shown here was outstanding,” said Sgt. Michael Dembrow of the New York State Police.
Police officials, emergency responders and members of the university’s emergency planning groups attended Thursday’s open forum, which evaluated the drill from its onset at 8:30 Wednesday morning. Lessons learned from the drill will be incorporated into future emergency planning.
In a nutshell, the scenario played out as follows:
A female student approached the main desk at Friedsam Library and reported having just been attacked by a young man wearing a hooded sweatshirt just after 8:30 a.m. A library staffer called Safety and Security to report the incident. Ten minutes later, a male student reported being injured after being attacked in a stairwell in Plassmann Hall by a man fitting the same description.
Security alerted the Office of Communications, which issued the first e2campus text alert ordering a lockdown at 9:06. That was quickly followed by Cisco phone system notification updating the information, with indications that a gun had been spotted by a faculty member at just after 9 a.m. The Cisco alert was followed soon after by e-mail, Web page and additional text alerts to the emergency in progress.
A faculty member in Plassmann 211 then called security about 9:40 reporting that a man with a gun had entered Room 210 and began screaming. Dr. Leigh Simone’s 8:30 Spanish class had been taken hostage by the gunman.
Several more police officers arrived on campus shortly thereafter. By this time, entrances to campus had already been closed by police.
Police began hostage negotiations at 10:20 after the gunman’s ex-girlfriend led police to determine the likely identity of the suspect. Members of the university’s Emergency Management and Residence Life teams began assisting police officials with their investigation of the suspect. The suspect’s room was searched and roommate interviewed about 10:45.
Further negotiations led the suspect to release the student hostages at 11:15 a.m., but the instructor was not released. Upon hearing shots around 11:30 a.m., police entered the classroom and seriously wounded the shooter. The professor had suffered a gunshot wound to her shoulder, inflicted by the suspect, and was led away by police after the suspect had been disabled.
At 11:46 a.m., the campus community was alerted via text message, e-mail and Cisco phone system that the drill had ended.
Despite the inconvenience of locking down campus for three hours, Student Government Association vice president Jeff Butler expressed thanks to emergency planners and police at the end of Thursday’s evaluation meeting.
“On behalf of the student body, thank you for all the work you’ve put into this,” Butler said. “The students might not have known exactly what was going on, but they really appreciate it.”
Sr. Margaret reiterated, “Concern for the student body was always the primary driver in this plan.”
Director of Media Relations/Marketing
Wednesday’s St. Bonaventure University campus disaster drill was dissected for two hours Thursday morning, and while some minor problems were discussed, all parties directly involved agreed on one point: The drill was a resounding success.
“As I’ve talked about this plan with my peers in higher education, I think we’ve set the bar pretty high here,” said Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., university president.
Police agencies applauded the exhaustive nature in which the university planned for the drill.
“I’ve overseen a number of drills like this, and I just have to say the level of detail and cooperation shown here was outstanding,” said Sgt. Michael Dembrow of the New York State Police.
Police officials, emergency responders and members of the university’s emergency planning groups attended Thursday’s open forum, which evaluated the drill from its onset at 8:30 Wednesday morning. Lessons learned from the drill will be incorporated into future emergency planning.
In a nutshell, the scenario played out as follows:
A female student approached the main desk at Friedsam Library and reported having just been attacked by a young man wearing a hooded sweatshirt just after 8:30 a.m. A library staffer called Safety and Security to report the incident. Ten minutes later, a male student reported being injured after being attacked in a stairwell in Plassmann Hall by a man fitting the same description.
Security alerted the Office of Communications, which issued the first e2campus text alert ordering a lockdown at 9:06. That was quickly followed by Cisco phone system notification updating the information, with indications that a gun had been spotted by a faculty member at just after 9 a.m. The Cisco alert was followed soon after by e-mail, Web page and additional text alerts to the emergency in progress.
A faculty member in Plassmann 211 then called security about 9:40 reporting that a man with a gun had entered Room 210 and began screaming. Dr. Leigh Simone’s 8:30 Spanish class had been taken hostage by the gunman.
Several more police officers arrived on campus shortly thereafter. By this time, entrances to campus had already been closed by police.
Police began hostage negotiations at 10:20 after the gunman’s ex-girlfriend led police to determine the likely identity of the suspect. Members of the university’s Emergency Management and Residence Life teams began assisting police officials with their investigation of the suspect. The suspect’s room was searched and roommate interviewed about 10:45.
Further negotiations led the suspect to release the student hostages at 11:15 a.m., but the instructor was not released. Upon hearing shots around 11:30 a.m., police entered the classroom and seriously wounded the shooter. The professor had suffered a gunshot wound to her shoulder, inflicted by the suspect, and was led away by police after the suspect had been disabled.
At 11:46 a.m., the campus community was alerted via text message, e-mail and Cisco phone system that the drill had ended.
Despite the inconvenience of locking down campus for three hours, Student Government Association vice president Jeff Butler expressed thanks to emergency planners and police at the end of Thursday’s evaluation meeting.
“On behalf of the student body, thank you for all the work you’ve put into this,” Butler said. “The students might not have known exactly what was going on, but they really appreciate it.”
Sr. Margaret reiterated, “Concern for the student body was always the primary driver in this plan.”
.jpg)
Comments