If a shooting such as the one at Virginia Tech on Monday happens at Ball State University, the local police departments are trained to handle the situation.
Gene Burton, director of public safety, said the Ball State, Muncie, Sheriff's and Indiana State police departments have received Active Shooter training designed to train police forces in dealing with an armed suspect in an open-fire situation.
Training together helps the police departments coordinate their efforts and communicate better, Burton said.
"Knowing what everybody's going to do and communicate puts you ahead of the game," he said.
Students who find themselves in a shooting need to think about their personal safety, Burton said.
"You need to be mindful of yourself and your situation of what's going on around you," he said. "Think about your personal security of what you are and aren't doing."
Kevin Kenyon, coordinator for Ball State's Crisis Management Protocol, said in the event of a shooting on campus the university would notify students and families via e-mail and the Ball State Web site.
"In the case of Virginia Tech, one of their first challenges was to communicate with students on campus about what was going on," he said. "Right now we would use e-mail and the Web site. Those are the two things that are tried and proven."
Ball State is also trying to develop ways to communicate with students directly such as using cell phones, Kenyon said.
"It's a tragic incident that occurred today, and we certainly would want to be prepared and deal with it in the best possible way," he said.
Monday's shooting at Virginia Tech will help Ball State develop better ways to communicate, Kenyon said.
Burton said it is too early to tell whether the Ball State Police Department will change its protocol for handling a shooting.
"Like what we do with any situation like this, we'll look at what our response would have been to see if anything needs to be changed," he said. "I think the Active Shooter policy has been adopted as a response to what happened at Columbine. Law enforcements saw the mistakes and problems that occurred."
Active shooterBall State, Muncie and Indiana State police departments have all received training in dealing with armed suspects in open-fire situations.
NotificationIn the event of a shooting on campus students and family would be notified via:
e-mailThe Ball State Web siteBall State is also developing ways to communicate with students through cell phones.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
