(Updated: 2:20 p.m., Oct. 2, 2015)
Shoreline Community College officials say their thoughts and support are with the people at Umpqua Community College as details continue to come out about the tragic and heart-wrenching shooting at the college today, Oct. 1, 2015.
According to news reports, 10 people died and additional people were wounded in the shooting on the campus near Roseburg, Ore. Authorities said the gunman was one of the 10 fatalities.
“This is such a tragic event,” Shoreline President Cheryl Roberts said. Roberts had been president at Chemeketa Community College, north of Umpqua, until 2014, when she came to Shoreline. “We are all affected by these events. We are making our counselors available to all Shoreline employees and students who may need support.” Counseling services can be contacted at 206-546-4559.
Roberts added that this is also a time for all employees and students to remind themselves of the procedures in place at Shoreline.
Shoreline has an adopted emergency response plan that is available online at www.shoreline.edu/safetyandsecurity and includes information about how to respond to incidents like what has occurred at Umpqua as well as many other situations. In addition, the college implemented an emergency training program for all employees over the past two years. A building-monitor program is also in place to provide building-specific support and direction across the campus.
This past summer, the college executive team attended three days of emergency management training approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In the event of an emergency, the college uses the RaveAlert system that can quickly send messages to all employees and students via email, text, voice and social media.
Training will continue this year with the addition of an online class that will be available to all employees. Safety and Security Director Robin Blacksmith has been working with the college eLearning staff to create the class.
“We are doing the training,” Roberts said. “The next steps will be to increase the number of drills and practice sessions so that employees and students are well aware of emergency procedures.”
The college is also working on a weapons policy for the campus. The College Council, a representative body of employees and students, this past year developed and resolved such a policy near the end of the academic year. This fall, that policy will move through the approval process that would result in adoption, said Vice President for Human Resources and Legal Affairs Stephen P. Smith.
“The event that occurred today at Umpqua is horrific,” Roberts said. “We continue to put in place the measures we can to prepare for something that we hope never comes our way.”