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SHOOTING RESPONSE UCC emergency alert system failed, officials say Comment By Ian Campbell and Troy Brynelson Roseburg News-Review MailTribune.com By Ian Campbell and Troy Brynelson Roseburg News-Review Posted Oct. 5, 2015 at 2:00 AM By Ian Campbell and Troy Brynelson Roseburg News-Review Posted Oct. 5, 2015 at 2:00 AM » Social News The emergency alert notification system failed to notify Umpqua Community College students and faculty that a shooter was on campus Thursday morning. Multiple associate professors told The News-Review that the emergency alert system in place, which shuts down school computers and displays a crawling message on the screen, did not activate and the text message notifications failed to appear on the phones of those who registered their numbers. Vanessa Becker, chair of the college’s board of trustees, said Saturday that she plans to investigate the reports. “Right now we have received conflicting reports about how our alert system worked,” she said. “(It’s) definitely an issue when we debrief the event.” The school’s emergency system is designed to alert students and staff about weather delays, closures and other emergency situations, according to the school’s website. But the UCC Emergency Alert Notification System did not work, according to John Blackwood, a computer information systems professor who was teaching a class the morning of the shooting. “I had my campus computer on and my cell phone next to me and the emergency notification system did not fire,” he said, adding he only learned of the shooting after a student approached him and told him to check his email. He found an email sent by Kathy Frazer, a securities and custodial administrative assistant at the school at about 10:42 a.m. “When I brought it into focus, I saw an email that said, ‘Shooting on campus. Please go into lockdown. Not a drill.’” Blackwood checked his phone to see if he had missed it vibrate. It hadn’t. “It should have vibrated but I didn’t receive a text notification even though I am enrolled in the program,” he said. [Hundreds gather for candlelight vigil held in honor of UCC shooting] Frazer could not be reached for comment by press time. In fact, the school held a brief meeting to cover emergency situations just a week prior, on Sept. 21, in the school’s Jacoby Auditorium. At about 3 p.m., officials from the school’s security conducted a verbal walk-through, building-by-building, of the safe places within the campus’s respective buildings. During the presentation, security officials told staff that they would be alerted of emergency situations on their computer. Susan Rochester, the department chair for fine and performing arts at the school, asked how teachers who don’t sit in front of their work stations expected to be notified. “Some of us teach in classrooms that do not have those teach stations,” she said. “I was told, well, you need to have your cellphone.” Those text messages never came. Rochester was en route to campus when she learned of the shooting and only found out because a former student texted her and asked if she was all right. That student had learned of it on social media. Carlos Figueroa, an associate professor at UCC, said he was told of the event by his son who was in Eugene. “There was a notice about a lockdown by email, but I didn’t get anything by phone or text,” he said. “It probably didn’t work for whatever reason.” Many security measures that day did work, according to Rochester. Buildings with electronic, keycard locks did so, and by most accounts the verbal walk-through helped faculty find safe places in their buildings once lockdown was established. Rochester, who has taught at UCC for 14 years, said that people did everything they could, but the information systems should have been better. “The faculty did everything right,” she said. “(The shooting) wasn’t worse because we had stunningly brave, amazing students who bolted across campus and notified students in other buildings.” While disappointed that the system didn’t work, Blackwood also said students and faculty reacted wonderfully because they followed the emergency protocols and likely reduced additional danger by doing so. “I don’t believe that anyone accidentally walked into an area because of a lack of a notification system,” he said, “But I’d be more worried about next time — we might not be so lucky.” By Ian Campbell and Troy Brynelson Roseburg News-Review MailTribune.com By Ian Campbell and Troy Brynelson Roseburg News-Review Posted Oct. 5, 2015 at 2:00 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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