“So far in 2019, 131 people have been killed and 391 wounded in 109 mass shootings.”
This statistic from Vox includes the recent mass shooting at UNC Charlotte on Tuesday, April 30, that resulted in the death of two students and four others injured.
The two students killed were Riley C. Howell, 21, and Ellis R. Parlier, 19. Howell, from Waynesville, N.C., studied environmental studies, and Parlier, from Midland, N.C., studied computer technology. Howell was laid to rest on Sunday with military honors.
The students injured include Sean DeHart, 20, Drew Pescaro, 19, Emilt Houpt, 23, and Rami Alramadhan, 20.
Howell tackled the shooter, former UNCC student Trystan Terrell, 22, where he stood on a desk, shooting at students.
For more details about the incident, check out professor Adam Johnson’s blog post.
To pay respect to the victims of the UNCC shooting, WCU held a candle light vigil.
Video produced by Wyatt Burnette.
From having friends and family attending UNCC to calling Charlotte home, this tragedy hits close to home for many WCU students.
WCU junior, Jayna Cooper’s brother, Noah, attends UNCC as a freshman, and was on campus when the shooting occurred.
“When I first heard about the UNCC shooting, my brother called me, and he rarely calls,” Cooper said. “He said ‘Jayna, I’m safe in my dorm room. There was a shooting today.’ He told me that everything was on lockdown and they didn’t know much.”
Following her conversation with her brother, Cooper immediately called her friends that attend UNCC to make sure they were okay as well.
For WCU juniors like Karsen Campbell and Austin Woods, the shooting happened in a city they call home.
“The UNCC shooting was an awful tragedy that really hits home since I’m from the area,” Campbell said. “You hear about school shootings, but they have never been so close.”
“I think the shooting was a huge tragedy,” Woods said. “Being from Charlotte, you’d hate to hear something like that happing in your home town.”
While some students feel that a mass shooting seems unlikely at WCU, students like Cooper and Cole Belk don’t deny the possibility of an active shooter on campus.
“I definitely think a school shooting could happen at our school as it could anywhere,” Cooper said. “I think law enforcement on campus should be more involved and get to know students so that people feel more safe.”
“I could absolutely see something like this happening here. Before Charlotte, I didn’t see it happening,” Belk said. “However, since the shooting, I’ve had a wakeup call. Hearing that some of my friends had to run for their lives and others lot theirs, got my attention.”
In the wake of the UNCC shooting, WCU’s Chief of Police, Steven Lillard, sent an email out to students and staff informing them about precautions that can be taken in the event that a shooting happens at WCU.
“We ask each member of our community to remain alert and observant of people around them and to report any suspicious persons or circumstances to the WCU Police immediately,” Lillard said in an email.
In the case there is an active shooter on campus, Lillard recommends that students, faculty and staff follow the “Run, Hide, Fight” model as described in the video below.
For more information about the “Run, Hide, Fight” model, click here.
In addition to the model, Lillard confirms that WCU does conduct extensive training in order to help prepare our police in the case of an active shooter.
“The officers of the WCU Police Department will respond and do everything in our power to save lives,” Lillard said in an email.
Lillard also encourages everyone to download the LiveSafe app as an extra precaution.
Despite WCU police taking these actions, some students feel that WCU can still do more to prepare for active shooters.
While Belk thinks that the WCU police are well equipped for an active shooter on campus, he does not think that students are prepared.
“I would love to see seminars from experts, so we, as students, can learn what to do in that situation instead of not knowing what to do,” Belk said.
WCU senior, Jalin Montgomery, shares similar sentiments.
“I think WCU is somewhat prepared. However, I think faculty, staff, and students should know exactly what they have in place if something like that happens here,” Montgomery said. “If WCU brought in other organizations to facilitate a lesson on how to become well equipped and how to recognize the signs, that would be extremely beneficial for the Western community.”
For now, Lillard encourages everyone remain vigilant of their surroundings, and if an individual feels unsafe, to contact WCU police at 828-227-8911.
