Shooting stirs security concerns

It has been more than a week since two students were shot during an attempted robbery of four students on Goshen Street. Details surrounding the incident are raising concerns from those involved about student security.

Robbie Berriz, a business administration and guitar performance major, was released from the hospital Friday, a week after the shooting. He is still in considerable pain but has recovered some of the movement he lost in his left arm as a result of a gunshot wound to his upper torso.

Berriz said he was surprised no emergency text messages were sent out the night he was shot.

“That is a bit ridiculous,” Berriz said. “Personally, if I were walking through the area, I would want to know that there had been a shooting going on and to stay away.”

Pamela Lepley, director of communications and public relations, confirmed a VCU alert e-mail was sent to students, but no text messages were sent.

“Richmond (Police Department was) handling the case and, due to information they had regarding the investigation, it was determined that a text message was not necessary,” Lepley stated in an e-mail.

Senior Vice President for Finance and Admistration John Bennett is involved with the school’s emergency procedures. He stated in an e-mail that emergency text messages are part of VCU’s multi-channel emergency communication; which include sirens, an alert Web site, LCD screens, Alertus devices and e-mail.

“Each channel has strengths and limitations,” Bennett stated. “The decision to activate (a) system depends on the nature of the emergency and the conditions at the time. Although we have basic principles which guide the decision, there is no automatic ‘if this, then that’ protocol, and not every channel is used for every incident.”

However, Danielle Canfield, arts foundations major and one of the uninjured students involved in the robbery, said sending the e-mail was not enough to keep other students safe.

“They should have sent out an alert, just so people know not to walk that way,” Canfield said.

Immediately after the shooting, Berriz said his friends were yelling for the police. While Richmond Police showed up within a few minutes of the assault, the students had no way of calling authorities because their cell phones had been stolen and there were no VCU Police call boxes nearby.

While the students were within a block of VCU property, they were not on campus when the shooting occurred. Lepley says call boxes can only be placed on university-owned property.

However, Berriz says there should be more call boxes available in order to protect students.

“What do you consider our campus if we’re a city campus?” Berriz said. “How do you call this campus and not this campus-there’s (VCU) buildings all over the place.”

Lepley says that although call boxes cannot be placed in locations VCU does not own, other efforts are made to keep students safe. She says despite the incident, VCU is a safe campus.

“VCU and Richmond Police work very closely together and both respond to incidents that happen near to campus,” Lepley stated. “VCU Police remain on high alert all of the time because of our urban location. While one robbery is one too many, the number of robberies around campus has
declined.”

Berriz says he does not want to live his life in fear, but he now is aware being a victim of crime could happen to anyone. He says other students should be cautious.

“It could happen to you just as easily,” Berriz said. “You’re not invulnerable.

I never thought I would get mugged-let alone shot.”