Students react to alleged gunman

Students surrounded Lockwood Library on Tuesday, curious about the rumors that they had heard.
Once word of an alleged gunman in the library got out, students hit the social networking sites, cell phones and e-mail looking for answers. Many stories circulated, but no one knew what was truly going on in the six-story library.
Joe Brennan, vice president for University Communications, stated in a press conference that police became aware of the situation and evacuated the building around 4:30 p.m. Students began spreading word about the evacuation and alleged gunman via social networking Web sites around the same time.
There were few police securing the area in the early stages of the incident, as many were evacuating the building and investigating the situation. Students easily walked up the Lockwood Library stairs or through the building's courtyard, but those aware of the situation were worried.
'I walked up in there and asked a cop what was going on. He said that someone [had] a shotgun. There are cops everywhere with M5 rifles,' said Ahmed Attoh, a senior electrical engineering major.
Ann Marie Awad, a senior English major, was working in Lockwood's Cybrary at the time of the event.
'One of the pubsite managers came into our office and said, ‘The cops said we got to get out,' ' Awad said. 'We looked outside and everyone was getting their stuff and leaving. They evacuated us into the hallway and then we stood in the hallway for a little bit, and they locked up the Cybrary. Then they told us we had to get out of the building.'
Awad was just one of many students sitting in the Baldy walkway near Lockwood with little information about what was going on. A number of the students in the area were waiting to find out when they could get back into the library, while others seemed to be drawn to the area because of the story.
The UB alert system sent out a text to students, notifying them that Lockwood was being evacuated at approximately 4:45 p.m. Jennifer Kane, a senior psychology major, was in a class in Clemens Hall when she received that text.
'My teacher didn't know what was happening. We saw the police going to Lockwood and we kind of figured it out,' Kane said. 'We told the teacher and he continued on with class until after everyone knew classes were cancelled. He let us out around 6 p.m.'
Although Kane was happy with the action taken to secure the library, she was dissatisfied with how security on the rest of the campus was treated.
'It was good that the police evacuated Lockwood so fast, but it was disconcerting that they didn't come to our class to let us know what was going on,' Kane said. 'We didn't know if we should be evacuated, considering Lockwood is attached to Clemens. No one really knew if we should be let go or if we should be on lockdown, too.'
After she became aware of the entire situation, Kane was worried about her safety.
'You never know with something like that,' Kane said.
Charles Anzalone of University Communications believed that the regular protocol was followed to alert teachers of the incident.
'I think that the normal emergency alert system went out, so that is probably how they were notified,' Anzalone said.
An e-mail was sent to UB employees from the University Communications Division of External Affairs at 4:54 p.m., giving them the same information as the text that was sent out. Students received that same e-mail at 5:16 p.m.
The perimeter of Lockwood was tightly secured around 5 p.m., and students outside were told to go indoors or clear the area. Police armed with assault rifles told students they could not leave through the eastern doors of Alfiero Center, as they were holding a position.
Inside Alfiero, students' emotions ranged from joking to scared as heaps of students crammed together and waited to see something take place through the second story windows of the library, directly across Putnam Way.
At 5:45 p.m., students were informed through an e-mail that classes were canceled. Though the situation and the safety of the area were unknown even to the police at that point, some students thought they should have been told earlier.
'I don't really like the way it was handled. I mean, I get a text from them saying Lockwood is under police lockdown, but they don't explain why. Then I find out there is a possible gunman on campus, but still have to wait a couple more hours before they decide to be done with classes,' said Daniel Kimble, a senior business administration major.
Daniel Dimillo, a senior architecture major, was in the Health Sciences Library on South Campus at 6:20 p.m. when someone came over a loudspeaker alerting students to stay away from the North Campus. That same person came back on about 10 minutes later saying that the South Campus library was closing at 7 p.m., as opposed to the regular closing time of midnight.
Dimillo arrived on North Campus around 7 p.m. and saw that police were still patrolling the area.
'From what I saw, cops seemed to have it pretty secure, but I saw some people just walking around other buildings,' Dimillo said. 'They had plenty of support there, like Amherst cops and Buffalo cops, but I think I could have walked into any building if I wanted to.'
Although Dimillo thought the officers' security was not as strong later in the evening,g he did think that the university successfully alerted students.
'They were pretty vague in their statements, but they did send two e-mails as soon as I started hearing about it,' Dimillo said. 'They were pretty informative.'
While the UPD's search of the building determined that the area was secure, it increased patrol and kept Lockwood closed for the remainder of the evening.
UB's alert system was tested and students were affected, but ultimately, the school can use this as an opportunity to see where its safety measures can be improved.

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