Steph Valenti
Social Media Manager
Campus Safety at Pacific Lutheran University sent out an emergency alert on Wednesday, Sept. 21, sending the whole campus on lockdown for just over two hours.
There was a vehicle collision near the Anderson University Center (AUC), and the armed suspect ran towards campus, sending PLU into lockdown. No injuries were reported, and the suspect remains unidentified by Campus Safety.
The first lockdown alert was sent at 2:54 p.m., with an update sent eight minutes later. The vehicle collision was reported on Park Ave. and 123th St. by a campus employee. The suspect of the incident was driving a stolen vehicle, which Washington State Patrol first responded to on Pacific Avenue, also known as Highway 7. After the collision, the suspect ran into the wooded area south of the AUC, and law enforcement communicated to Campus Safety that the school had to go into lockdown.
“This lockdown was the longest one I’ve experienced in my 10 years here,” said Shawn Thompson, the Associate Director of Emergency Programs.
The length of the lockdown is not controlled by Campus Safety since officers are unarmed, leaving them on lockdown as well. Because the suspect was armed, law enforcement had to control the situation.
At 4:10 p.m., Campus Safety sent another alert saying that campus was transitioning into a modified lockdown, allowing students to move about inside the building they were in.
“When a lockdown goes on that long, enough time passes to know if the suspect were to be in a building, and we would be notified by then,” Thompson said.
The incident was not targeting the university, but spilled over from Pacific Avenue, according to Thompson. The reason the lockdown lasted so long was because law enforcement needed to confirm the wooded area, also known as the Outdoor Learning Center, was clear, and the suspect was not on the premises.
At 4:58 p.m., the lockdown was declared over, allowing people on campus to return to their regular activities.
Campus safety advises any student outside a school building to get as far away from campus as possible when a lockdown is declared.. For those in a building, when campus is on lockdown, get away from windows, move to the safest place, and cease normal activities.
The PLU Campus Safety website (https://www.plu.edu/campus-safety/) has information on crime prevention and emergency preparedness, and explanations of what the differences between lockdowns and stay-in-places are, and students are very encouraged to take a look at that information.
