Students from all over reflected on their own campus safety in the wake of a shooting at Delta State University in Mississippi that left a professor dead at the hands of another professor.
“It’s crazy how much the US is developing,” said psychology major Genesis Chavez, a freshman from Oregon. “We see story headlines on students shooting at the schools, and you feel insecure already about your own. A professor should be one to keep their students safe in such cases, but now it’s the professor who starts them. It makes me question if schools can be a secure place anymore.”
Ethan Schmidt, a well-liked history professor at DSU, was shot on Monday Sept. 14 by his colleague, Shannon Lamb, with whom he appeared to have no prior conflict, reported AP. Schmidt appears in photographs with Lamb, according to CNN, and Schmidt included Lamb in the acknowledgements of a book he wrote.
According to AP, Lamb drove 300 miles from his home to Schmidt’s on-campus office where he shot him three times, and forty-five minutes later called and alerted the police that he had left his girlfriend, Amy Prentiss, dead on the floor of his house. It was later confirmed that he had accidentally shot her while he was attempting to take his own life.
“My first thought is what caused the professor to lash out at his colleague like that?” said Bryce Nattress, an undeclared freshman from Idaho.
Fellow professors and students and people who knew Lamb all have various speculations as to what led to the shooting, but absolute reasons are still unknown.
Supervisor of BYUH Security, Iona Teriipaia, said nothing of that nature has ever happened here, at least not to his knowledge.
But if it did, “we would probably have to secure the campus,” said Teriipaia. “We would have to get the message sent out to students to let them know what’s going on and to stay away ... so we could check it out and investigate.”
BYUH Security uses a system called Everbridge that is effective in sending out emails and texts to students immediately in case of an emergency.
“The biggest thing in a situation like that,” said Teriipaia, “is to stay away from the area. Don’t try to be nosy or try to go see what’s going on because it makes it harder for us. So if you ever get a message, do what it says because it’s for your safety. Our priority is safety.”
A campus-wide anniversary celebration had been scheduled for Tuesday at DSU, some of it to be held in the hall where the shooting took place, but instead the rest of the week was spent commemorating the professors and sending students to counseling, reported AP.
“I don’t think things of that sort can be prevented,” said Chavez, “because it would probably be considered a crime of passion.”
For Teriipaia, it is not a matter of prevention so much as it is proper training. “I think our security has come a long way from where it was before, and all of our officers are well-trained,” he said. “That is one of our biggest concerns, and so our plan is to have training on what to do when there’s a live shooter on campus.”
“I’ve never felt more safe (than here at BYUH), honestly,” said Nattress. “Too many nice people. Other campuses might be different. Campus safety is important.”
With his experience in homeland security and another supervisor’s FBI background, Teriipaia says he believes that, “we’re in good hands here.”