A shooting incident occurred in the vicinity of 43rd Street and University Way near the University of Washington (UW) Seattle campus that left four students injured, according to a UW Alert system notification sent out early on the morning of Oct. 2.

The four injured students were transported to Harborview Medical Center for “non-life threatening-injuries,” according to a UW News release.

UW President Ana Mari Cauce issued a statement in response to the tragedy which stated, “We are grateful the students’ injuries were not life-threatening … Regardless of the severity of the physical injuries, events like this are life-changing and reverberate both in the lives of those most immediately affected and our entire community.”

According to a report by Seattle police outlined by UW spokesperson Victor Balta, witnesses reported two men having a fight outside a bar at approximately 1 a.m. which led one man to fire three to five gunshots. The Seattle police department is still investigating the incident. 

In response to this scenario, Assistant Chief of CWU Police Eric Twaites gave his perspective on the matter and what precautions CWU takes against shootings. When asked if he was worried about a similar situation happening here, Twaites said, “absolutely not.”

“It’s always a risk and a concern that we don’t take for granted, so we train and prepare ourselves in case something like that does happen on campus,” Twaites said. “However we don’t have any indication or insight that something like that would happen on or around campus.”

According to Twaites, campus police collaborated with the Ellensburg Police Department, the Kittitas County Sheriff’s office and the Washington State Patrol to hold a Mass Casualty Incident drill at Brooks Library. He said the drill simulated a shooting by involving library staff and faculty while campus police practiced responding to the shooter and victims. 

“That was the first drill we did this year,” Twaites said. “We have done other ones at the SURC, we do that annually and do several tabletop exercises with staff, and we try to collaborate more and more with students … so they can see our response and see how they can help us.”

Twaites said there are a lot of new officers on campus that needed to be exposed to expectations, and they received good feedback from the library staff.

According to Twaites, if students see anything outside of the ordinary that makes them uncomfortable, they should report it to the police. 

CWU Alerts are sent out when any threats of violence or crime occur on campus, as was the case in 2019 when a false report of an active shooter in Lind Hall was widely spread on social media. 

Twaites said rumors can spread on social media and the public affairs department helps campus police keep information and press releases as accurate as possible to avoid spreading misinformation. 

“We used that as an opportunity to learn and grow so we can be better prepared for the future,” Twaites said.

Campus police have created resources to help students with situations on campus, such as the YouTube video they made with public affairs in 2019 called Run, Hide, Fight and the walking buddies program that provides escorts for people on campus who feel unsafe. 

Walking buddies are available from 7 p.m. – 12 a.m. seven days a week. Twaites said students and community members can call KITCOM if they ever need to be escorted outside of the operating hours. 

Resources

Walking buddies number: 509.963.2950

Run Fight Hide link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q3WZv5ByPE