GAINESVILLE - The shooting at Florida State has not just affected students in Tallahassee but also has brought concern to college students in Gainesville. One thing that stopped Myron May from causing any more damage at the FSU library were the security barriers in place. But are there enough safety measures in place to prevent these kinds of emergencies at the University of Florida?
The FSU shooting Thursday morning has hit close to home for many students here at UF. But it also has them wondering are they safe on their own campus?
Alfredo Ramirez a junior at UF said, "The library here at UF is a very open place and you know and it's not the most secure area at the university. And I feel like it's very susceptible to any kind of incident."
However, Major Brad Barber with the University of Florida Police Department says they are more than prepared to handle an active shooter situations.
Since the instance that actually occurred at Virginia Tech university many years ago we had gone through accessed our capabilities, the equipment that we had, the training that we go through. Made those assessments, any adjustments necessary to basically handle any situation," Major Barber said.
UFPD owns an armored rescue vehicle. It's completely bullet proof and while it has never been used before, if a gunman came on campus this is how they would respond.
I definitely think it's very easy for someone to blend in when certain thoughts are going through their mind and you don't know what acts they're thinking about committing," Ramirez said.
At FSU you also have to swipe your student ID to come in and the metal gates only allow one person in at a time. In fact, because the gunman was unable to make it past the security barriers he left FSU's library; probably preventing a more tragic turnout. However at UF it's pretty easy to walk in. In fact we got in without a problem.
The Facilities Manager at Library West, Peter Miller tells us they have a security guard at the entrance during the evenings and that student ID's are checked after midnight.
"We don't like to keep out community members because we are paid for by tax dollars so we want to serve the entire community rather than just the university community I wouldn't say it's exactly easy to get in. Because when you work at the circulation desk you see the same faces every day and so you know when someone walks in who is not a normal visitor because that person stands out."
There will be a meeting in the next coming weeks with the security company, the facilities department and the deans to discuss safety on campus in light of the FSU shooting.
Source: http://www.wcjb.com/local-news/2014/11/can-uf-handle-situation-fsu-shooting
