Campus emergency video outlines what to do if a shooter attacks
Post-secondary school safety video posted in aftermath of California deaths near campus
Alberta's post-secondary schools have joined together to produce a video showing students and staff what to do if there's a shooter on campus.
The short video, screened on Monday at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) in Calgary and McEwan University in Edmonton, is a dramatization with instructions on what to do in such a situation. It was produced in consultation with police officers.
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The video comes after six students were killed near the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Elliot Rodger, 22, the suspected shooter, is believed to have killed himself.
Closer to home, three security guards were shot to death in an attempted robbery at the University of Alberta in 2012.
Students in Calgary were told that, although it's unlikely there will ever be an armed shooter on campus, it's best to be prepared.
“Personally give some time to think about where you work, the office and the venues which you take in throughout the day. How do you lock those offices down? How do you put something in front of doors to potentially barricade that to prevent someone from coming in?” said Calgary police Sgt. Lee Stanton.
“Misnomers such as pulling fire alarms and things of that nature are not always great options, because of course that leads people into the place that we don’t want them into.”
Barry Cochrane, head of security at SAIT, says if students and staff know what to do, they are more likely to survive a shooting incident.
“It's another tool to allow people to inform themselves to make knowledgeable and informed decisions if they should ever find themselves in an event like this.”
The video will be shown at more post-secondary campuses in Alberta in September.