“Active shooter on campus. Four words no student ever wants to hear.” Patrick Gagnon, assistant vice president of Safety & Security & Emergency Management at St. Lawrence University, led an active shooter training for Community Assistants (CAs) last week. Some Community Assistants are concerned about a situation that could arise involving an active shooter or any other similar threat, and how to deal with such a situation.
“It’s an unfortunate topic to have to present on, but we want everyone to be aware,” Gagnon said. Since 2010, St. Lawrence University, SUNY Canton, SUNY Potsdam, and Clarkson University have been using the short film “Shots Fired,” produced by the U.S. Office Homeland Security, to educate the institutions’ faculty and students on what should be done in an active shooter situation. The film shown to the CAs was the student version; a different version is also used when training faculty members to create a more appropriate learning experience.
This program has trained over 1,600 faculty and students since its establishment at St. Lawrence. “I hope that we are just preparing for something that never happens here, but to not prepare and have it happen is the wrong approach, too,” Gagnon stated. He emphasized that “an informed campus is a safer campus.”
The program has tackled individual student organizations in small groups of around 50 people. By facilitating discussions and allowing individuals to ask questions, they create an open channel of communication and make the presentation more impactful, stressed Gagnon. He said that presenting the information “without any questions or discussion or more context would do more harm.”
Domestic student and First-year CA Kiersten Larrabee was among the 61 community assistants who received the training. “I think it’s something important that we should think about,” said Larrabee. “The one part of the presentation that stood out the most was when Gagnon said: if you have been trained and are prepared for it, you’re more likely to survive a situation like that.”
As of March 24, there has been an average of one school shooting every week in 2018, if you count all instances of a firearm use on a school premise, even if school is not in session, there are no students or faculty present, and no fatalities. Gagnon reiterated that “knowing your surroundings and seeing what is out of place” is very important in recognizing the signs of these shootings.
Michael Palluconi ‘20, from Rochester, NY, likened the active shooter training to fire drills; it’s preparation for something that is unlikely to happen. “To teach the school what they should do would be a great thing to do,” Palluconi said.
St. Lawrence has been working to improve its overall safety. “I want the community to know what St. Lawrence is doing and how we are working collaboratively with the people who come to rescue us and respond to our crisis,” Gagnon remarked.
As St. Lawrence is an open campus located in the town of Canton, security officers have increased the number of bike, car, and foot patrols that are conducted on an hourly basis around different parts of campus. Gagnon emphasized the efficiency of the University’s emergency notification system, as officers can get alerts out extremely fast with little to no delay.
Although the training is “purely by invite,” Gagnon encourages different student groups on campus to reach out to him. He can be contacted via email at pgagnon@stlawu.edu or at his office phone, 315-229-5609.
(The article has been changed to ensure accuracy. The original article asserted that there were 18 school shootings in 2018, but without the proper qualification. This number includes any instance when a fire-arm was discharged on school property, even if the school was not in session, there were no students or staff on the premise, and there were no injuries. The article later stated that the number of school shootings was on the rise. The data on school shootings is mixed, but most sources indicate that since the 1990s, school shootings have become less frequent. However, school shootings have become more lethal.)