Posted 5:55 p.m. Thursday, April 18, 2013
An update on this morning's gun incident from Chancellor Gow—
Dear students and colleagues:
As you may know, earlier today our University Police were notified about an individual who appeared to be carrying a weapon on campus. Our officers responded and quickly apprehended that person. He was, indeed, found to be carrying an unloaded hunting rifle; and no ammunition was found on his person. This individual is now in police custody undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.
This incident unfolded very quickly and our police officers were able to apprehend the individual, even as a campus alert was being prepared. Therefore, the notice we all received this morning was modified to indicate there was no immediate threat to our campus community.
Nonetheless, this has been an unsettling experience for us all, and we know many of you have questions about what occurred. Likewise, there may be members of our campus community who would appreciate the opportunity to speak with a counselor. This afternoon at 4 o'clock in the Cartwright Center Ward Room we will be holding an Open Forum about this incident to answer any questions. Counsellors also will also be available at this session. So please come join us to learn more about this situation as well as campus safety protocols.
As I've said, our University Police responded very quickly and effectively. We owe them our deep gratitude for protecting us so well. And we can also be very grateful to the many UW-L people who saw the man with the weapon and immediately notified our police. Our policies worked very well in this highly unusual situation.
Sincerely,
Joe
Joe Gow, Chancellor
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse