North Carolina based college students react to school safety after swatting hoax at other universities | #schoolsaftey #kids #parents #children

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Days after officials at the University of South Carolina (USC) declared a weekend active shooter report to be a hoax, students on the campus of North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh responded.

“It does make me start to think a little bit more about what’s going on in the world and other campuses as well. Makes me sad for those who have to experience things like that,” said freshman student Nate Roper. The nuclear engineering major credits Wolfpack officials for getting him and others prepared at the start of a new school year on the state’s largest campus.

“With us being a public campus, people may think we are as safe as we could be,” he said. “I’m actually feeling pretty good about NC State’s public safety, especially with how they have the setup of alerting us when something bad happens. They’ve got it through the app and through emails and things like that.”

Roper is attending the university as an out-of-state student, having moved from Georgia, where he said the student-campus experience is different. “It was a little different watching things go on here versus how it is how it’s done at Georgia. So coming in, it kind of was a little overwhelming, watching everything go down, but I believe that a lot of the practices that they’re putting in make us safer as students.”

Officials at USC later determined the school fell victim to a swatting hoax, along with other similar events they said have happened at other campuses across the country.

“It’s better to have a plan if, when the unfortunate occurs,” said graduate student Erin Shannon, who said her father works at the university. Shannon said she spent many years growing up on the school’s campus. “If there is a school shooter, maybe having an automatic lock for the doors. Instead of having to run over to the door, lock it, and then get everybody to their safe places,” said Shannon.

Additionally, in a statement to ABC11, NCSU officials said, “The safety of the NC State community is our highest priority. The university prioritizes emergency preparedness in its processes and engagement with the campus community, and has established emergency response protocols that are regularly reviewed and updated consistent with best practices. NC State also conducts monthly scheduled tests of the WolfAlert system and campuswide drills each semester, and engages the community with a variety of emergency preparedness educational initiatives. The university also maintains strong partnerships with local, state and federal authorities to help monitor and respond to potential issues or threats.”

Meanwhile, the renewed emphasis on the Raleigh campus also comes almost two years to the date that UNC-Chapel Hill student Tailei Qi shot and killed his faculty adviser, Zijie Yan.

UNC-Chapel Hill officials said they launched an emergency preparedness training for staff in April of this year. “The safety of students, faculty, staff and visitors is a top priority of the University. The University employs multiple methods to enhance the security of the campus and help keep our students, faculty and staff safe,” said a school official.

In March, the school also introduced a new feature in the Carolina Ready Safety App called “I’m OK”. This feature allows people to quickly notify contacts about their whereabouts and status during a campus emergency. The school also said the university’s 911 dispatch has not received any swatting or hoax calls this year.