The tragedy at Virginia Tech is one that will certainly raise questions about security issues on college campuses.
Monday will go down as the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history and is the deadliest campus shooting since 1966. On Aug. 1, 1966, Charles Whitman climbed to the top of the clock tower at the University of Texas at Austin and killed 16 people and wounded 31 others before police officers took his life.
The questions will swirl for many months about what would motivate someone to start taking other human beings' lives and his own life. Overall, including the gunman, 33 people were killed and numerous others were wounded.
During the horrific events some students decided to jump out of windows in hopes of running to safety. The feeling of safety we hope to feel in our everyday lives is one that is often taken for granted. We trust that the university and community police officers in our respective cities have special tactics in place.
Some professors at Virginia Tech stayed behind when the shootings began to hold doors shut in an attempt to provide a last wall of security. The attempt allowed students extra time to jump out of windows to safety, while the professors lost their lives in their heroic attempts.
Security at a university can be difficult because of the fact that it is a public place. Ball State University has security measures in place to have students swipe their ID cards to gain access to their residence hall after midnight. They also have students sign in guests after midnight in an effort to keep track of who is entering the building. Other common features on Ball State's campus, and many campuses throughout the United States, is the use of security cameras, bag searches at athletic events and campus police patrol 24 hours a day.
Ball State goes a step further in having all university police officers receive training in an active shooter program. "I believe it is prudent for all police departments to be familiar and trained in active shooter programs," Gene Burton, Ball State Director of Public Safety, said.
The training consists of a hands-on program designed to prepare officers to respond in the event of violent assaults in schools, workplaces or other locations. It's primarily used for cases in which law enforcement may be expected to deal with deadly rampages.
Security was tested at Virginia Tech to the fullest during the massacre, and we will undoubtedly see a change in security and notification of students on college campuses throughout the United States in the event of another tragic shooting rampage.
It's hard to fathom the idea or answer the question of why someone would take lives of innocent people. However, entirely preventing a tragedy may be impossible because everyone has free will and shootings are rarely expected events. The best step we can all take is to look out for one another on a daily basis - it's hard to predict when a tragic day will sneak upon us or our loved ones.
Write to Dan at daladig@bsu.edu
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