By Mark Bauer/editor-in-chief
NE Campus police have increased security for Saturday, April 19, as a precautionary measure in response to a threat written on the bathroom stall of the men’s second floor restroom in the library.
Safety alerts have been posted on doors throughout the campus in order to make students aware of any potentially dangerous situations.
According to campus police, the threat was small in print, and stated “there will be a shooting here on April 19.”
Sgt. Anthony Woolum said the student who reported it originally didn’t think anything of it.
“The student said he was just gonna blow it off, but it did concern him,” Woolum said.
And that’s when the police said they were approached and made aware of the etchings.
The campus police are required by law to inform the student body of any criminal activity that threatens students’ well being.
According to the Clery Act, all federally funded postsecondary institutions must distribute an annual campus security report, notify the campus of crimes that threaten safety and maintain a log of all reported crimes.
The law was named in memory of 19-year-old Jeanne Cleary, a Lehigh University student who was raped and killed in her dorm room in 1986.
Tim Crumpton, NE student, said that aside from the safety alerts posted around campus—not much else could be done and considers the chances of a shooting actually happening as small as the print the threat was scribbled in.
“I don’t think it’s very realistic—it happening here—unless they target a specific person,” he said.
“ Maybe if someone called in a warning, but writing it on a bathroom stall makes it seem like he was just bored,” he said. “I’m not too worried about it.”
Woolum stressed that the NE police department did not want to create any undue alarm.
“We don’t want the alarm to heighten to shutting the campus down,” he said.
Earlier this week, Oakland University and Saint Xavier University in Chicago were both shut down in response to multiple graffiti inscriptions found around the campuses.
The date inscribed on the stall on NE Campus, as well as the campuses around the nation, is an eerie reminder of past tragedies involving campus attacks and large-scale violence.
April 16, 2007, a lone gunman entered Virginia Tech campus and murdered 32 people and injured dozens more before turning the gun on himself.
April 20, 1999, two gunmen went to school and killed 12 Columbine High School students and a teacher before killing themselves.
April 19, 1995, a moving van packed with explosives was parked in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building and blown up in downtown Oklahoma City killing 168 people.
The bombing remained the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil until the twin towers of the World Trade Center were attacked in New York City Sept. 11, 2001.
The campus police said they have taken the correlating dates into consideration, and according to the safety alert will “continue [with increased safety and security measures] as long as deemed appropriate to preserve the safety and security of our campus community.”
Lt. Lennie Oringderf advises students to remain aware of their surroundings and to report any suspicious activity.
The Tarrant County College Police Department asks students with any information regarding this situation to call 817-515-8911 or extension 8911.
