<p>Jrcsmom,</p>
<p>just make sure that doesn’t stop your son from receiving texts since they won’t attempt texting a home number.</p>
<p>Sounds like things have been resolved. Glad it wasn’t a student.</p>
<p>^^My D reported the same thing. Two cooks at Phi Delt that are having marriage issues. Very scary, so thankful that everything was handled peacefully.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>When I texted just to make sure that he’d received the alert, he told me he’d been alerted…“like 40 times”, so however it’s set up, it seems that UA is keeping the students informed.</p>
<p>DD said 6 times but at any rate knew before I texted</p>
<p>My high school son replied it was probably a student returning from the midnight release of Halo… only a high school boy would think of that one</p>
<p>Yes, I am also very pleased to hear students weren’t involved. Hearing that the situation is clear is comforting, but my concerns about a professor not receiving the alerts and not knowing what to do when she heard the PA announcement remain. Unfortunately, the situation that happened at Virginia Tech could happen anywhere and we should be prepared with a plan. I’m sure the UA has a plan, but it doesn’t help if everyone is not aware of the plan. I will be making some phone calls.</p>
<p>It may be that the professor/instructor had their phone turned off during class or even if it was on, they may not have felt compelled to look at it immediately if they were conducting a class. They wouldn’t have known if they were receiving an alert or just a question from a student in another section that they could respond to later. If they looked at every text they recieved or answered every incoming call, classes would be very disrupted.</p>
<p>Also, I agree that there should be a procedure in place and there may be one, but sometimes panic and adreneline interfere with the thought process. I know that I work at a government facility and above all the phones here are memos instructing what to do in the case of a bomb threat…I’d like to think that if I ever received a bomb threat that I’d be able to stay calm, focus on the memo and follow the instructions, but I also hope the situation never gets tested.</p>
<p>Gosh, don’t check my email for an hour or two you can miss a lot. I started with “suspect in custody” though so that helped.</p>
<p>Police hate those types of calls as they can turn ugly fast.</p>
<p>I got no fewer than 7 e-mails, some from the University’s alert system, some from Parent Programs. UA does a good job of keeping parents informed.</p>
<p>I’m fully confident that the UA has a comprehensive plan in place, and I understand and agree that the professors can’t and shouldn’t be checking email and alerts during lectures. </p>
<p>What I’d like to see is a comprehensive evaluation by building of how the plan was carried out and what improvements can be made in the plan, training, and education of all employees. Now that this incident has been resolved and stress levels have diminished, valuable information could be gleaned by such an evaluation.</p>
<p>I remember a failure on 9/11 in an emergency plan in my children’s elementary school. Kindergarten and first grade students receiving gifted services in an unattached building were instructed to go to the main building. The problem was that the children were sent without an adult and when they reached the main building the doors were locked. When they returned to the unattached building the doors were also locked. Because information was very limited at the time, it was unclear what risks we were facing. It all worked out, but the children were potentially placed in harms way and were frightened. I know these are college kids at the UA, but the situations are similar otherwise.</p>
<p>While I understand we cannot always anticipate every situation, a good plan is worthless unless those who are responsible for implementing it are aware of what to do. Planning, training, and education should occur after incidents like this so improvements can be made now instead of making phone calls after the fact. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not angry with anyone, but there is obviously a need for better communication of the safety plan.</p>
<p>Update and disturbing new details are emerging about today’s incident.</p>
<p>Here is the story in the local paper.</p>
<p>[Armed</a> individual reported at University of Alabama fraternity house | TuscaloosaNews.com](<a href=“Voter profile: Hampton's Bob Guy says 'we need Romney'”>Voter profile: Hampton's Bob Guy says 'we need Romney')</p>
<p>In light of this information I am even more concerned about the lack of awareness of the emergency plan and the fact that classroom doors in nearby buildings were not locked.</p>
<p>An e-mail with the subject A Reminder on Emergency Preparedness went out an hour or so ago. I won’t post the whole thing since it’s not allowed, but it started like this and I assume that the rest of the information in the e-mail is contained in the link.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Since I’m sure my D (and many of her fellow students) had never reviewed these procedures, it’s a good reminder.</p>
<p>Yes, we received the email. What it doesn’t explain to me is why classroom doors in the immediate area are not locked. This person was obviously prepared to die and could have easily fled into the building where my daughter was in a lecture. Obviously you cannot lock down every building, but why would you wait until an active shooter is observed inside a building to lock the door? Who’s going to go lock it at that point and what would be the point?</p>
<p>If you read the story on the link to the local paper (two pages), this is not the first time the man as allegedly shown up at the fraternity house to cause trouble. That is concerning in itself.</p>
<p>As a side note, D says the professor checked her phone after the PA alert and said she didn’t get an alert. Maybe she doesn’t have it set up correctly and will do so now. I’m not trying to be an alarmist, but campus and workplace shootings do happen and can happen anywhere. Preparation costs nothing.</p>
<p>Here is another link detailing the timeline of events. My D’s text alert didn’t come in until 11:28…after shots were fired, the suspect fleeing campus, and the stabbing. Why did nearly 20 minutes pass after shots were fired before the alert went out?</p>
<p>[Police</a> identify armed suspect spotted on UA’s campus](<a href=“http://www.myfoxal.com/story/20016522/armed-individual-reported-near-ua-campus-suspect-in-custody]Police”>http://www.myfoxal.com/story/20016522/armed-individual-reported-near-ua-campus-suspect-in-custody)</p>
<p>bamagirls, about when my son received his. I am not very comfortable with this either. I do not understand why the whole campus was not locked down as soon as a threat was identified. This was not a random sighting, this was an actual shot fired and gunman on the move. </p>
<p>All students should have been notified to remain in place an on alert until the person was arrested, and all clear.</p>
<p>I lived through the DC sniper and the maddness it caused. But it also brought about a lot of preparation in this area. Remain inplace until all clear was the biggest thing we heard.</p>
<p>^ That’s my point. I’m concerned that procedures were not clearly understood and/or not followed and I don’t understand the extent of the delay in the alerts to the students and faculty. This gunman could have just as easily fled into one of the unsecured buildings and classrooms.</p>