<p>It does seem that this incident is generating more buzz than the Liberty University student recently killed by campus police.</p>
<p>[Student</a> at Virginia’s Liberty University killed in dorm shooting - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/19/justice/virginia-university-fatal-shooting/]Student”>http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/19/justice/virginia-university-fatal-shooting/)</p>
<p>Reality is that New Haven has a sizeable population of homeless people, many of whom are mentally ill. Connecticut has; --or at least recently had; I don’t know current rules–a weird system whereby homeless people have to pay a small amount to stay in a shelter and get a meal. As soon as it gets cold, the homeless hit the Yale campus like a swarm of bees. They know the kids are soft touches and will give them $. I’m sure not all of it goes to stay in a shelter, but some does. When it’s cold, especially when it’s snowing, it’s hard for a kid to say no to someone who says “I just need 50 cents more so I can sleep inside tonight.” </p>
<p>Some of them are colorful characters who get to know individual students. For a generation of Yalies, one of the most famous was “the Shakespeare Lady.” I just googled and apparently she has now cleaned up. [BEACH:</a> ‘The Shakespeare Lady’ has cleaned up her act](<a href=“http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20091220/beach-the-shakespeare-lady-has-cleaned-up-her-act]BEACH:”>BEACH: 'The Shakespeare Lady' has cleaned up her act) I hope she’s still clean. Hers was a heart breaking case. She was amazing–she still could recite all of Shakespeare’s works and she was GOOD. </p>
<p>So, my hunch is that the cops thought it was one of the town crazies who called in the threat. Many of them do have roommates. It’s not that hard to imagine that one of them got hold of a gun. </p>
<p>The person who “confirmed” by reporting the sighting of a gunman was a Yale employee, not a student, BTW.</p>
<p>“Wait, is it because Yale is a major university or is it because New Haven is a major urban area? I’m so confused.”</p>
<p>I never argued that it made national news because it happened in a major urban area. I was only arguing that New Haven is a major urban area. Imo, it became national news because the incident was happening at a university, in this case Yale - a university that almost everyone in the United States knows of. Personally, I don’t think it would have been any different it the lock down was at any other college campus. Reports of schools (elementary, middle, high school, colleges,) all over the country are routinely reported when they are in progress. They are always popping up on the AP bulletin on my IPAD. </p>
<p>As to the Liberty U incident - was the shooter ever loose and the campus on lock down? The situation at Yale was ongoing for hours. I think that makes a difference in terms of how a story is covered in the media.</p>
<p>Here is a parallel story that was happening at the same time yesterday at a community college in North Carolina. </p>
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<p>[Vance-Granville</a> Community College locked down after report of armed person :: WRAL.com](<a href=“Vance-Granville Community College locked down after report of armed person”>Vance-Granville Community College locked down after report of armed person)</p>
<p>Report of an armed person at a college. They went into lock down and cleared in an hour.</p>
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<p>The Liberty incident was an officer involved shooting in response to an isolated event.</p>
<p>And the difference between a phoned in threat with an unspecified geography, vs. a “sighting” is …</p>
<p>“They went into lock down and cleared in an hour.”</p>
<p>So barely enough time for the incident to become national news and it was over. </p>
<p>I don’t remember exactly when the AP pop up on my Ipad happened yesterday but it was several hours after the lock down went into effect (which was about 9:30am given the time of the anonymous call.) It wasn’t news for a few hours. </p>
<p>“Police began searching the New Haven, Conn., school after an anonymous 911 call came through shortly after 9:30 a.m. informing local police that the caller’s roommate was en route to the school to “shoot people,” authorities said.”</p>
<p>Read more: [Yale</a> University lockdown lifted after report of gunman on campus - NY Daily News](<a href=“Yale University lockdown lifted after report of gunman on campus”>Yale University lockdown lifted after report of gunman on campus)</p>
<p>Notice that in the article about the North Carolina incident, students were complaining that they weren’t notified adequately.</p>
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<p>Is English your native language? </p>
<p>A “phoned in threat” is just that–a threat phoned in, to the New Haven police in this case.</p>
<p>A “sighting” is also just that- someone reports seeing a person whom (s)he believes matches the description—in this case, a Yale employee reported seeing a middle aged white male, balding ,carrying a rifle on Old Campus. This was a “sighting.” It is now believed she may have seen one of a few police who were near the campus when they heard about the call and went to the campus ahead of the large phalanx of cops who arrived later.</p>
<p>Someone else reported seeing a man on the roof of a building. The man was smoking and had a gun, according to the witness. The polic investigated. You’re not supposed to smoke inside a Yale building so during the lockdown a student went up to the roof to smoke a cigarette. He had some object which was NOT a gun with him. Some news stories also reported this as a “sighting.”</p>
<p>"Notice that in the article about the North Carolina incident, students were complaining that they weren’t notified adequately. "</p>
<p>“Notified”- there is a difference between that and wanting more locking downing. I’d imagine that the Yale students are also annoyed that they were locked in their dorms for an hour after the news had already debunked the gun hoax.</p>
<p>argbargy,</p>
<p>To the best of my knowledge, nobody had “debunked the gun hoax.” Nobody found a gunman. Nobody got shot. That does not in and of itself prove this was a hoax. It’s not as if the police have identified the caller and he’s admitted it was a prank.</p>
<p>So they’re annoyed. So what? It could have indeed been serious.</p>
<p>My D’s campus in the Boston area was one of those affected by the Boston Marathon manhunt; they were closed down, too. And? Everyone lived, which is the important thing. Her response was to post a facebook status praising the brave police officers of MA for helping keep her safe, not to whine that she had to stay indoors, wah wah wah. How ugly, to be one of those whiners.</p>
<p>Are you familiar with Type I and Type II error, argbargy? It’s the natural error that occurs in a world with imperfect information. There is no such thing as an “appropriate” reaction to something unpredictable, in this case a report of a shooter. You can err on the side of minimizing inconvenience to others, so you play it loose, but you run the risk of not intervening when in fact there is a shooter or other danger. Or you can err on the size of minimizing danger, which means that inevitably you’ll lockdown and inconvenience others when in fact it was nothing. The point is, you don’t know. So you have to decide which you’re going to minimize – inconvenience to the community, or actual danger. “But a lot of students would be really bummed if they had to sit in their dorms” isn’t an excuse that would stand up well when you’re faced with injured or dead students. From a liability standpoint, they just have to play it safe. They don’t have a choice.</p>
<p>The police are still investigating the call. </p>
<p>[Search</a> for Person Who Prompted Yale Lockdown Continues | NBC Connecticut](<a href=“Police ID Several People of Interest in Yale Threat – NBC Connecticut”>Police ID Several People of Interest in Yale Threat – NBC Connecticut)</p>
<p>This statement by a local restaurant owner sums it up, IMO:</p>
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<p>Apparently they do have a choice because the community college didnt call in armored vehicles and dozens of officers with riot shields. </p>
<p>Why isnt the campus still on lockdown? Hey there is a .25% chance the balding old white guy with a “long gun” is just holed up in one of the dorm rooms so why take the chance?</p>
<p>emilybee,
I am confused as to why you included a snipit of my post in with some others you quoted back in post # 50. I dont understand your point. I also don’t know who posted the “militaristic lockdown” line, but your posts seems to imply that both of those quotes came from the same poster, which they did not.</p>
<p>Can you clarify what you were trying to say in that post?</p>
<p>The " confirmed report of a person w/a gun on/near Old Campus. Shelter in place" alert went out on twitter through their emergency management account and was retweeted 1385 times. Was sent to all students and probably many parents who have registered with their emergency alert system. This was posted on their facebook page after the shelter alert was lifted: [Yale</a> University - Official University Messages](<a href=“http://messages.yale.edu/messages/University/univmsgs/detail/100199]Yale”>http://messages.yale.edu/messages/University/univmsgs/detail/100199)</p>
<p>It doe not take much for news to go viral. </p>
<p>And I do think there are likely many students with family members in the media. My S’s gf works for Reuters, but no, she doesn’t attend Yale. My point is that this stuff will hit the media very quickly, especially on what may have been a relatively slow news day.</p>
<p>My belief is that if Yale students are annoyed at having been locked down “for nothing,” their annoyance will be directed at the caller, and not at the authorities.</p>
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<p>But then, nobody claimed that someone was headed to the community college to shoot people. This is an important distinction.</p>
<p>This case is similar to deciding what to do when there is a bomb threat. At what point do you clear the building and allow everybody back in? How thorough a search do you do? If the threat gives a specific time, do you keep people out past that time even if you find nothing?</p>
<p>“emilybee,
I am confused as to why you included a snipit of my post in with some others you quoted back in post # 50. I dont understand your point. I also don’t know who posted the “militaristic lockdown” line, but your posts seems to imply that both of those quotes came from the same poster, which they did not.”</p>
<p>My apologies Jym, I didn’t intend that to come off like it was the same poster who said both things. In hindsight, I should have done two separate posts.</p>
<p>Thanks, emilybee. But I am still not sure I am understanding your message in that post (#50) can you clarify? Thanks</p>