HIGH POINT, N.C. — The now-former High Point University student accused of plotting a campus shooting will spend some time in a mental facility.
A judge ordered the move for 19-year-old Paul Steber, just weeks after police accused him of having guns on campus, and plans to kill.
It can happen anywhere, and it almost happened here. That's the reality many High Point University students say has been tough to get over.
"The next day when we started hearing more about there was intentions for an actual shooting to be happening, that it was more shocking," said senior Laura Trueworthy, "That was more emotional because you always hear about it obviously everywhere else, but we never thought it would happen here."
The University says, several students reported to staff that Steber had these guns in his possession. On August 28th, High Point Police say they found the guns in his dorm room, as well as a plan and timeline to kill people.
A couple weeks later students applaud HPU for taking the right steps to keep them safe.
"It really kind of brought the campus together as a community, and showed how prepared we were for the situation," said freshman Dawson Place.
"I think the University has done a really good job how they went about handling the situation," said senior Jordan Hicks, "You don't hear of a lot of schools that caught it before it actually happened which is super awesome on High Point's part."
As for Monday's ruling to send Steber to a mental facility, students told me this was an important move to fully address his mental health issues.
"You don't just come up to do this sort of thing, you don't just do that when you're not having issues," Trueworthy said, "I think it's really great that they are trying to get him help."
Since the arrest, HPU students say teachers are making each class more aware of how to deal with an active shooter in each specific room.
On Wednesday, September 11, High Point Police will hold an active shooter survival training, specifically for students. That training will be held on campus, starting at 7 p.m.
