GREENVILLE, N.C (WNCT) – Tragedy struck Michigan State University on Monday when a gunman fatally shot three students in a residence hall. Since then, universities nationwide have cracked down on their security systems, including eastern campuses.
East Carolina University Police Capt. Chris Sutton said the school has many measures in place to prevent a tragedy like this from happening on their campus.
‘We have controlled access at all of our residence halls, you have to have a fob to be able to get inside, and then in a lot of spaces beyond that, you have to have a key to be able to access hallways or stairwells to be able to get on to the floors where our students reside,” said Sutton.
Sutton said ECU also has access to the LiveSafe app, which allows students, faculty and community members to report tips anonymously. Another feature the app includes is a panic alarm, which notifies authorities of your exact location when in danger.
UNC-Chapel Hill Police Chief Brian James said UNC has something similar in place to keep students notified in case of emergencies.
“Ironically, the day after the tragedy at Michigan State, we were testing our systems and that is something we do three times a year to ensure that we have a notification system that works properly, and so students, faculty, and staff know exactly what that [notification] sound, sounds like in case we do have an actual emergency,” James said.
UNC and ECU also shared that they perform alert program updates regularly to assure university safety for students and staff.
