IU reacts to Virginia shootings

Following the nation’s deadliest shooting spree, the IU Police Department said increased vigilance would occur both immediately and in the near future in Bloomington, acknowledging that similar situations could occur at IU.\nIUPD Capt. Jerry Minger expressed empathy Monday after learning that an unknown gunman killed 32 people and himself at Virginia Tech, located in Blacksburg, Va. Describing the university setting as “similar” to IU’s, Minger said the tragedy was something that would have “a global impact.” \nThe gunman first opened fire in a university dormitory Monday morning before tearing through a student-filled classroom building about two hours later, according to The Associated Press. \n“We realize that if something can go on at one place, it could go on at another,” Minger said. In order to combat this possibility, the IUPD captain said far-reaching emergency plans have long been in place – covering issues of severe weather to situations involving \n“hostile intruders.” \nMinger would not detail specifics of the emergency plans due to the information’s sensitivity. However, he said these plans constantly evolve based on staffing, the amount of emergency services in the area and the police department’s communication capacities. \nWith the police department’s reactionary role – taking action in response to specific threats – Minger said tragedy aversion was typically based on the community’s prevention efforts.\nIU freshman James Kim seemed to lack faith in both community vigilance and current University safety procedures. \nAlthough University regulations prohibit guns on campus, Kim said someone could easily sneak a weapon into the residence halls or classroom buildings. \n“If someone had a gun by Ballantine Hall when everyone gets around there, they could kill easily 50 people,” he said. \nVirginia Tech’s dormitories were not locked at the time of the shooting and the gunman had easy access to them, according to officials. This differs from security measures at IU, where access to residence halls is restricted to residents. Still, previous occurrences where criminals have easily accessed the residence halls have demonstrated University \nsecurity lapses.\nWhile a rampage of this magnitude has never been experienced, campus shootings have occured at IU and other institutions around the country. In April 1992, a female IU student was murdered and another male student was critically injured in Eigenmann Hall. \nMore recently, at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, a man was killed while several others were injured after a heavily-armed gunman took about 75 hostages at that university’s business school. \nGun-control activists have already voiced desire to reopen the legislative debate over regulating weapons, while politicians on both sides expressed their grief and concern for the situation Monday.\nDespite the situation’s senselessness, the shadows of the massacre will likely glow for years to come. But for some IU students, they will not change their daily routines.\n“I just go with it,” Kim said. “There is nothing I can really do about it.”