WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY | Some question if response to WKU campus threat was an overreaction

Some question if response to WKU campus threat was an overreaction

By Scott Reynolds - bio | email  
Posted by Charles Gazaway - email

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - The students being questioned in Wednesday's security scare on the campus of Western Kentucky University have been released. The chaos on campus and the lockdown order from the university resulted from one of the four 911 calls yesterday that said shots were fired. Two witnesses also claimed they heard shots. Within minutes, Kentucky State Police, Bowling Green Police and WKU campus police converged on the scene.

The possibility that gunfire erupted on another college campus created breaking news on all the cable news networks. But police say they still cannot confirm that any shots were fired - only that some young men got into a fight.

"The personal actions of a few can, and in this case, did disrupt two of our campuses and brought national focus on us," said WKU president Gary Ransdell during a Thursday press conference.

Police took in five students for questioning, but they all have denied being part of any fight leaving officers continue to investigate how it all started.

"They could be non-students. We're getting several stories about who could be involved, so at this point we're not ready to comment specifically about that," said Chief Robert Deane of the WKU Police Department.

A picture from Western's student newspaper, the College Heights Herald, captures the tense moments on campus. One photo shows a Louisville girl held down at gunpoint. Her mother was at Thursday's press conference and wants some answers.

"I am down here today to see what actions that I can take for my children's civil rights," said Kim Carter, mother of the WKU student seen in the photo.

With just about everyone on campus trying to use their cell phones, most calls could not get through. That includes calls being made by WKU administrators.

"We are going to address backup emergency phone communications. I cannot tell you what exactly what we will create or put in place to ensure that we have effective communications in the absence of cell phone service going forward, but we do know that excessive use will cause a cell phone system to cease to function as it did for several hours yesterday," Ransdell said.

Ransdell said despite cell phone calls and text messages that did get through, the university's loudspeaker system actually did the best job of letting all the students on campus immediately know of the lockdown.

Thursday morning, Ransdell sent an email to parents to explain what happened on campus. If you would like to read Ransdell's message to parents, just click on the highlighted link: President Ransdell's WKU Letter.