Michigan State University addresses security on campus

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Following Monday night’s mass shooting at Michigan State University, campus officials said they are working to repair the sense of security that was lost.

After a gunman killed three students and left five injured, students, faculty and staff are wondering how the security on campus will look when classes resume Monday. MSU Board of Trustees said that they know people are scared. To address that concern, they are looking into the best ways to stop future attacks from happening on their campus.

Related: Michigan State University counseling resources available for students, faculty, staff

As people are still stopping by the MSU Rock to pay their respects, the community continues to grieve the loss and injuries of their Spartan family. After the shelter-in-place advisory was lifted on Monday night, senior student Andre Brown said that he’s worried about his peers that will still be on campus. He said “hopefully this never happens again.”

Michigan State University Board of Trustees Chair Rema Vassar’s daughter is a student at MSU. She said that her daughter had a hard time being back on campus for Wednesday night’s candlelight vigil.

“My daughter had not been on campus since Monday, but I convinced her to come. Immediately when I got on the stairs she started to text me: ‘Mom, I don’t feel safe, I want you to get down,’” said Vassar.

Making sure past, current, and future Spartans can feel safe on campus again, MSU’s Chief of Police, Marlon Lynch, said the university is developing a centralized security system that has real-time monitoring.

“In a situation like, that the location would be identified, the operator would know that, that particular location has X number of cameras and begin automatically pulling the cameras up to help with the overall response,” said Lynch. The system is currently underway.

MSU’s Interim Deputy Chief, Chris Rozman, said that the campus already has thousands of cameras and that “we’ve worked recently to enhance that even further.”

“It’s a what next, what could do to prevent this from happening,” said Brown.

Devastated and unsure of what could be done to stop future attacks, Brown said he just wants the university to look into changes that makes being on campus feel safe again.

The Michigan State Board of Trustees said they have been meeting with students, faculty, and staff to hear what they need to feel safe enough to return to campus. They want to know where people feel the safest so they can recreate those spaces across campus.

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