SEMO to practice response to shooting scenario today

Southeast Missouri State University will test its readiness for a shooting scenario when the school conducts an emergency preparedness drill today.

Scheduled from 8 a.m. to noon, the drill will result in the lockdown of Carnahan Hall, Crisp Hall of Nursing, the pedestrian area on the east side of Academic Hall and the south side of Brandt Hall of Music while university staff members work through the drill. Cheney Drive, the parking lot north of Crisp Hall and parking lot east of Brandt Hall will also be inaccessible. Faculty and staff members will not be allowed in the area during this time.

"We've had drills for emergencies such as tornadoes and earthquake for years, but this is the first time we've had one for a violent situation," said Southeast director of public safety Doug Richards. "Any type of violent behavior causes risk to the campus, and that is a reason why we feel the need to simulate this."

Richards expects the drill to take 56 minutes, but that time will broken up throughout the morning to allow for training in between.

The first course of action of the simulation will be an initial telephone call to the campus' police dispatch unit between 8 and 9 a.m. of reported shots fired in Crisp Hall.

Once the call is received by a dispatcher, a team of 45 to 60 members of the campus emergency team will then meet to decide a course of action and law enforcement will be notified. Richards said campus police will play the roles of those agencies during the drill, who will barricade certain buildings and search the area for the shooter.

Richards said high-profile events such as the deadly shootings at Virginia Tech and Columbine High School are reasons to have such a drill.

"We chose this event because of the changing times we live in," Richards said. "Unfortunately the reality is situations like those at the two schools have become more common in today's society."

Another drill is scheduled in either April or in the fall when students are on campus. Richards said Southeast president Dr. Ken Dobbins chose to conduct the drill today to "fine-tune as many details as possible before having a full-blown drill on campus."

The drill is another way Richards said the university is stepping up its emergency preparedness efforts.

When he began working at Southeast in 1986, the university did not have any security cameras. It now has more than 250. The university police force also has been increased from 11 when he started to more than 20 now.

Plans are also underway to add an indoor public address warning system. The current system is only for outside.

"We are trying to be diversified as much as possible," Richards said. "While technology is great with text messaging and cell phones alerting students and staff of potential danger on campus, sometimes towers become overloaded and don't work. Our goal is to be so diversified that we'll reach 100 percent of the campus."

bblackwell@semissourian.com

388-3628