Blunt commends University's response to gunfire

JEFFERSON CITY -- Gov. Matt Blunt last week issued a statement describing Northwest's crisis management plan as "invaluable" in the wake of a shots-fired incident that took place on campus late Saturday, Oct. 27.

The report was authored by Director of Public Safety Mark James and Dr. Robert Stein, state commissioner of higher education. The men are co-chairs of Blunt's Campus Security Task Force, which was formed following a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech in April that claimed the lives of more than 30 people.

"As promised … Director James and Dr. Stein have provided a thorough after-action report detailing the incident response and lessons to share on crisis management," Blunt stated in a release posted on his official Web site.

"The co-chairs reported to me that Northwest Missouri State University had a solid crisis management plan, and its implementation proved invaluable. Using their emergency operations plan, responders worked well together, warnings to members of the campus community were immediately relayed with specificity, and the campus population was referred to emergency instructions posted on buildings."

Blunt continued: "This incident is a reminder to all academic colleges and universities that they must maintain and review a current all-hazards crisis management plan. The Department of Public Safety and the Department of Higher Education are working collaboratively at designing ways to include higher education institutions in the recently developed Missouri Alert Network established by the Missouri School Boards' Association.

"Overall, I am pleased the report indicates that members of Northwest Missouri State University and the surrounding community should be commended for their response to the existence of an active shooter on their campus. Fortunately no one was hurt, and the campus community was able to return to its normal operation in a reasonable time period."

For more information, please contact:

Anthony Brown,
News Bureau Manager
E-Mail: abrown@nwmissouri.edu
Phone (660) 562-1704
Fax (660) 562-1900

Northwest Missouri State University
219 Administration Building,
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

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