There's nothing that will put a sinking feeling in your stomach as a college student than to hear about a shooting on a university campus.
We may never figure out what caused a University of Texas sophomore to open fire on campus Tuesday, eventually shooting himself in the library after police officers closed in on him at the library. Thankfully no one was hurt, and a professor who saw the student said he doesn't even think he was firing towards people at all.
We can't know what was going on in 19-year-old Colton Tooley's head when he let off at least six shots, but something was definitely wrong.
Jessica Moore, a 19-year-old Seton Hall student, wasn't as lucky. She was shot at a weekend house party in East Orange, N.J., as a gunman opened fire, killing her and injuring four others.
On campus or off, gun violence is a serious matter, especially if someone is depressed or deranged enough to want to use a gun on fellow students.
Unless we reach out to people — taking care of our friends or any classmate who may have something bothering him or her — we would never know something was wrong until it's too late.
Tooley did not seek counseling, according to the Daily Texan, the Texas student newspaper. People with mental and emotional problems don't always ask for help, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't offer it.
What if something like this happened on Ball State's campus? What would you do? We're not even sure if there is one correct answer. Shots from a gun like Tooley's AK-47 could hit you in less than a second, leaving almost no room for reaction time. We believe a positive state of mind is our only solid defense.
There's a slim chance something like this will happen at Ball State. The older lecture halls, such as Teachers College Rooms 101 and 102, leave us a little uneasy, though, as the only exits are located in the back of the rooms.
It's important to be prepared for the worst. The University Police Department bought 10 Double Star AR-15 assault rifles last spring so they could be prepared for any type of major attack on campus.
"You're sorry that ... you need to have this type of weapon at your disposal," Director of Public Safety Gene Burton said in a Daily News story in April, "but glad you have the equipment, tools and training [to protect the community]."
Students made a push in 2008 for the right to carry consealed weapons on campus. Letting civilians carry guns opens another can of worms, Burton told a Daily News reporter. If UPD sees a student pull out a gun, even in self-defense, he or she will be considered a threat, Burton said.
We never want a situation like what Texas, Virginia Tech or Northern Illinois have gone through in the past few years to happen here. It's important to keep our guard our and be prepared.
Being paranoid and walking around wearing a bulletproof vest isn't productive either. Our best defense is just being a friend and listening.
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