A Student Sits Outside Stony Brook University when Lock Down Gets Called

On Monday, February 25th, 2008 at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York officials had to be called to the campus, Stony Brook Independent reported. Apparently someone in the Student Activity Center cafeteria saw somebody who appeared to have a gun on him. Because of this event, and because of the previous shootings at various college campuses around the country, the campus police decided to have a lock down on the whole university; everyone who could be found had to enter a building and stay there while the search for the gunman was being conducted. Within two hours of this, they were all let go though, and the gunman was not found.

In this article you will read an interview with a freshmen student, David Ortiz, who was sitting just outside the cafeteria when all of this started happening. He will be telling us what his thoughts were, what he saw others doing, and what he thinks universities can do to avoid events like this in the future.

1. Have you heard about shootings and gunmen at other universities?
Yes, I have heard about the shootings that happened in Illinois. It's crazy that young people like myself would ever think of taking the lives of others for no apparent reason; they must not be sane.

2. Did you ever fear that gunmen might be amongst the crowds where you generally hang out?
No. I mean, I do live in the state of New York, and people with guns here are almost everywhere. However, I did not think that a student at my college would bring one and let it be known to others.

3. What were your initial thoughts upon hearing that there was a man with a gun inside of the building you were sitting outside of?
Well, I was not that freaked out. I thought, if people saw this person with the gun, I'm sure he's gone by now and not just hiding close by. He would have been stupid to stick around, unless he was insane and didn't care about getting caught, or had plans to kill himself.

4. Have you ever known of a friend or acquaintance that has taken a gun into your university?
No. I don't hang around with people who own guns. And I honestly would not be okay with a friend or acquaintance bringing weapons like that to the school I'm in. Accidents happen, and I wouldn't want to be responsible of knowing that a person had a weapon, if something happened.

5. Did you allow the campus police to send you text messages with danger alerts to your mobile phone? Why? Why not?
Yes. I signed up for this service when I was finalizing my registration. You can actually sign up for it by going to their website also or by calling in. It's a very good service, although I wish they'd message detailed messages.

6. What was the atmosphere like the rest of the day at Stony Brook University?
It was tense. You could tell that people were sort of freaked out that this had happened, and that the campus had locked down for a while. I think students thought of the worst; thankfully though, nothing happened.

7. What precautions do you think should be taken to avoid situations like this?
I think students should be psychologically analyzed every once in a while. Especially those who experience symptoms of depression. Besides that, there's not much the university can do to prevent things like this from happening.

8. Where you forced into a building during the campus lock down?
Yes. I was actually forced into some of the restrooms that were close by. It wasn't by a school administrator though. Some students were just asking others to take shelter, then we found out about the lock-in.

9. What are your thoughts about the lock in?
I think it was a good idea. It gave officials the opportunity to search around without all of the usual student traffic everywhere. However it didn't help because there was gossip with crazy rumors going around before the news of what actually happened came through, and people were panicking thinking of even more horrible things before then.

10. Were your peers in a panicking? Or were they calm?
Well the people that were close to me were not panicked; I don't think that's the word. I think they were concerned and wondering why someone would do something like shoot others on campus. They were mainly discussing the events and making phone calls to others to discuss things as well.

Rachel Young, "'All Clear' Issued After Police Investigate Alleged Gunman Incident", Stony Brook Independent