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Tuesday, 04 March 2008 |
University alert contributed to fear of school shooter
Campus officials announced via e-mail and the Web site of Appalachian State University that an armed gunman was seen near campus Monday afternoon. Given the fact that buildings were locked down on campus and classes were cancelled Monday night, as well as due to the lack of important information in the campus announcements, the logical implication was that a “school shooter” may be loose on campus.
The Appalachian announcement simply said: “An armed gunman was seen in the area of Appalachian South Apartments/Hill Street. Police are on the scene.” Details of the offender and a description were provided, but no context was provided.
Simultaneously, on the Web site of the Watauga Democrat, readers
learned that “A robbery attempt late Monday afternoon led to a lockdown
on the Appalachian State campus and police are still looking for a
fugitive gunman. Around 3 p.m., ASU student Matthew Haney came home to
his apartment on Hill Street behind the Holmes Convocation Center to
find a masked man trying to steal his television. Haney said the gunman
wore a black mask, black Pink Floyd T-Shirt, dark jacket, red and green
tennis shoes and blue jeans. The gunman pointed a small, black pistol
at Haney and both men fled. The gunman ran into the woods and Haney
drove quickly to the apartment’s management office to make a police
report.”
Assuming the report in the Watauga Democrat is accurate, this is really
just a burglary gone bad (it is technically a robbery since the
offender reportedly had a gun, but the offender’s intent clearly was
not to hurt anyone). Further, that the criminal “ran into the woods to
escape” is consistent with a non-confrontational offender such as a
burglar rather than a confrontational offender such as a violent
criminal). Media helicopters were seen over campus, broadcasting
stories of a potential gunman on campus at Appalachian State University
on national news (e.g., CNN) as well as state and regional news (e.g.,
Charlotte). News accounts showed aerial footage of the campus (as if
this adds anything whatsoever), even though literally nothing was going
on below.
While I understand and applaud university officials taking a potential
campus shooting seriously, they simply need to do a better job of
reporting all the relevant facts to campus users. A burglary gone bad
does not make a campus shooter. By providing a little more (important)
information, university employees and students could have felt more
assured that there was really nothing to worry about.
Further, we could have kept from contributing to the near hysteria nationally about school shootings.
Dr. Matthew Robinson
associate professor of political science and criminal justice
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