Case Study: Michigan State University Shooting
School shootings and proper school security continue to be a widely discussed topic. A recent incident at Michigan State University highlighted many gaps that this particular university had in it’s campus security. Making sure that the most recent alarm systems are in place and functioning, could have prevented this incident from happening and saved the lives of three college students.
A gunman walked onto the Michigan State University campus on February 13th, 2023 and killed three students and injured five others. The gunman opened fire in one of the campus halls right around 8:15p.m killing two students. A professor that was teaching a class heard the shots going off and held the door handle to his classroom so the gunman could not enter. There was no lock on his side of the door. The shooter then moved to another hall about 10 minutes later where he shot and killed another student. Both buildings were unlocked and open to the public. An email alert was sent out to the students and faculty ordering to “shelter in place”, while authorities searched for the shooter. The search lasted for about three hours. The gunman was found dead, off-campus around 11:30p.m due to self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
When the campus was surveyed after the incident, reports showed that the university lacked several of the most basic and common school security features. Many schools are able to lock down all buildings from a central location and monitor all cameras on campus, this was not the case for Michigan State University. These are features that the Michigan State Police hope to implement soon, but were not available during the attack.
Most schools have cameras scanning the campus, both inside and outside, and can be monitored in real time to keep an eye on campus or areas of threat. This was not a possibility at Michigan State University while the shooter was active on campus. Police had to go back and review the tapes individually. Police ended up finding pictures of the shooter when he was at the first building on campus and were able to publish those photos three hours later. It took only a few minutes after those were published for them to start receiving tips on the shooter’s whereabouts.
Another security miss at the University, was that most schools have locks that can be locked from the inside of the classroom, that was not the case at the first hall or the second hall where the shooter killed the students. The school later announced that they will install locks to all 1,300 classrooms by fall of 2023. Other school security implementations that will be added according to the school president included; more security cameras and limiting access to buildings from 6p.m to 7:30a.m to those with key cards.
The shooting incident at Michigan State University showcases the importance of current and functioning emergency security features. Having real-time location sensors and the ability to lock entrances/exits are vital for preventing a shooter from moving freely around a campus. Through automatic alarm systems and communication notifications, gunshot detection systems allow the wider spread campus and local police to become aware of the situation, as well as an accurate location of shots being fired. This incident could have been prevented with the proper emergency notification system.