When a gunman shot and killed a police officer and himself during a traffic stop on the Virginia Tech campus Thursday, many in the country were reminded of the 2007 shooting in which a Virginia Tech student opened fire, killing himself and 32 others.

Shortly after the 2007 shooting, Syracuse University implemented the Orange Alert system, which notifies those registered on MySlice of possible threats to campus through text message, email and automated phone alerts. Should a shooting occur on or near the SU campus, an outdoor siren would also sound in conjunction with the text and email alerts, which take less than 20 seconds to be transmitted, said Chief Tony Callisto of SU’s Department of Public Safety.

In addition to Orange Alert, Callisto said DPS automatically dispatches a second officer at traffic stops to ‘minimize the likelihood’ of a situation resembling the Thursday shooting at Virginia Tech, in which campus police officer Deriek Crouse was killed by Ross Ashley, 22. Ashley attended college about 15 miles from the Virginia Tech campus at Radford University, according to a Dec. 11 USA Today article.

The last time a shooting-related threat set-off the Orange Alert System was in November 2008, when a drive by occurred on Madison Street. Alerts were sent out as the suspect’s vehicle was seen traveling toward campus, Callisto said.

Within 45 minutes, students were notified that the vehicle traveled away from campus. Callisto said he feels the alert system helped deter the suspect from approaching campus.

SU switched alert system vendors in October. Under the new contract, phone alerts are issued in less than 10 minutes which is down from 45 minutes, Callisto said. When a threat is judged as credible, a ranking DPS supervisor can issue the alert without further authorization.

In the event a shooting does occur on the SU campus, resources to help the SU community cope would also be offered, said Thomas Wolfe, senior vice president and dean of student affairs.

Wolfe said a ‘gathering place to help people come together to support each other,’ either at Hendricks Chapel or other space, would be offered.

dbtruong@syr.edu

Published on December 11, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Debbie: dbtruong@syr.edu | @debbietruong