CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — WFMY News 2 spoke with several students today, many of them were shaken up by today's events but some of them even felt unprepared as the situation unfolded.
"We were told to take a decision by ourselves about what to do… a lot of us or 17, 18, 19 and it's horrible that we're just told what to do and make a decision for ourselves. We're looking at the people of authority in class and no one knows what to do which is horrible," UNC Freshman, Simrun Panda said.
Panda says she made the decision to hide in the closet with several other classmates and made a call to her parents, letting them know she was safe, after the 'all clear' was given to students and staff by the University.
Another UNC student, a graduate student, Drew Patel also sheltered in place but he did so at a nearby Starbucks off Franklin Street. He says he got various text message alerts from UNC but too feels like there was not much of a plan in place, or if there was, it's not widely known.
"None of us have really ever been trained about this and like had a drill about this… it could've been in the ends of emails or a link to click that's optional, but I feel like we were all unprepared today," Patel said.
During a news conference with local law enforcement and university officials, WFMY New 2's Nixon Norman specifically asked the Chancellor of UNC, Kevin Guskiewicz about some of these students' concerns. He says UNC does have a plan in place, although he did not elaborate, but did say he was proud of how today was handled.
"Even the best laid plans, as you know, and protocols, sometimes don't play out as you'd like to but I'm very pleased with what we know at this point. We'll have an opportunity to review that, learn from the investigation and questions that are being asked and certainly put improvements to that if need be," Guskiewicz said.
This is directly from UNC's Active Shooter and Critical Response Page:
What You Should Do
- Assess what is happening and get out of the room or area right away if you can. If you are walking outside, keep walking and find protection.
- Once out of harm’s way, call 911 to let the police know what is going on.
- If you are unable to get out, you should hide out – but not in a place in which you could be trapped. Lock the door, be quiet and mute your cell phone.
- Make sure you spread out so everyone is not gathered in a small space. That makes it too easy for a shooter to target a lot of people.
- If you are in the same room as a shooter, you might have to confront the person. (If you do, however, become more aggressive than ever: throw things at the shooter, yell, whatever it takes. Tell yourself, “I will survive.”
- When law enforcement officials arrive on the scene, be compliant and calmly provide details. Raise your hands, spread your fingers and drop to the floor. Don’t run toward the police officers.
- If you are in a hostage situation, you should not be aggressive. Instead, be patient and compliant and let the police negotiate.
The training, Shots Fired on Campus, is part of Carolina’s ongoing campus safety efforts. It is based on a DVD called “Shots Fired: When Lightning Strikes” that was produced by the Center for Personal Protection and Safety. The training is available for any campus group that requests it.
To request training from UNC Police, contact Sgt. James David at 919-966-3230 or dhjames@psafety.unc.edu.