University fails to notify seniors of gun scare

Members of the Class of 2009 did not receive alerts from the University’s emergency notification system about Wednesday’s gun scare because their names had been removed from the database, University spokeswoman Cass Cliatt ’96 confirmed in an interview on Wednesday afternoon.

“Our system, after Commencement, removes departing seniors from the system,” Cliatt said. “No one could have expected that the day after graduation we would have an incident.”

Many members of the class were still on campus moving out of their dorm rooms after Tuesday’s Commencement exercises.

The incident

At 10:36 a.m., a University staff member called Public Safety and reported that she had seen a young man carrying a gun at the Graduate Student Government collection drive held in the courtyard of Dod Hall, Cliatt said.

“The toy gun actually did have a very prominent orange tip, but it was tucked into his waistband and not visible to the staff member,” Cliatt explained.

The University issued an alert through the Princeton Telephone and E-mail Notification System (PTENS) just after 10:50 a.m. Warning messages went out via e-mails, text messages and phone calls.

The young man with the gun left the area with a friend, and the two were joined by two more male juveniles as they walked toward University Place, Cliatt added.

After the PTENS alert went out, Public Safety received a second call from a different employee when she saw the young men walking toward the Wawa store.

That information was relayed to Borough Police, who took the four juveniles into custody near the Wawa and retrieved the toy gun that had been discarded in a nearby trash can. During questioning, the teen said he found the toy gun at the collection point outside Dod.

There were no reports of threatening behavior or injuries. An “all clear” announcement was sent through PTENS at 11:25 a.m.

The males will not face charges in connection with carrying the toy weapon, The Princeton Packet reported Wednesday night. They will, however, be charged with underage alcohol possession and marijuana possession after both substances were found on them during questioning.

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Students reported seeing as many as three news helicopters hovering above campus during the lockdown, and reports of the incident appeared on CNN, Fox News, CBS News and NBC News as well as in the Associated Press.

This is the second time this spring that the University has alerted students to the presence of a gunman on campus. The first occurred early on the morning of March 7.

Student reaction

Several graduating seniors expressed frustration and disappointment that their names had been removed from the emergency notification system before they had actually left campus.

“I talked to a couple friends, and they were surprised and a little upset about the whole situation,” Emma Giunipero ’09 said. “If it had been a real incident, then we could have gotten hurt.”

Jonathan Keller ’09 said he learned of the gun threat when a Public Safety officer “told [him] to go back in [his] room and not come out.”

“It was very frustrating to not know what was going on and not have accurate information with getting any of the alerts,” he said. “All my roommates didn’t know, so I had to tell them. None of the seniors I knew knew.”

Kyle Smith ’09 also learned of the gun scare when he tried to leave Little Hall.

“There were Public Safety officers coming out here just shouting at people to go up campus, not really saying what’s going on,” said Smith, who later found out what was happening from a junior who had received a PTENS alert via text message.

Smith called the decision to take seniors out of the database “definitely irresponsible.”

“I think it’s definitely a problem,” he added. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, [what] the repercussions for that [will be.]”

Peggy Kearns ’09 also learned of the incident from a junior.

“It was kind of weird considering that a lot of the people that are on campus right now are seniors,” Kearns said. “I think it wouldn’t be too hard to just keep us in the system for a day or two extra considering that our move-out is right now.”

Several seniors said they hoped the incident would lead to reforms in the notification system.

“I know we had to be taken off the list sometime,” Katie Thaeder ’09 said. “I guess this is kind of a learning experience that maybe you have to wait until everyone’s actually moved out.”

Indeed, Cliatt said the University is currently taking steps to address the problem. “We are actually working right now to make sure seniors remain in the system at least a week after Commencement,” she explained.

Cliatt added that, though seniors were not in the emergency notification system, information about the incident was posted on the University’s homepage.

She also noted that members of the incoming Class of 2013 did receive alerts from the notification system.