July 24, 2008

Gunman Wounds 3 in Shooting at Community College in Phoenix

At least three people were wounded in a shooting incident this afternoon in a computer lab at South Mountain Community College, in Phoenix, and an unidentified gunman has been captured, according to the East Valley Tribune, a local newspaper that is regularly updating its coverage on its Web site.

The shooting followed a loud argument in a room that may have had as many as 50 people in it, eyewitnesses told the newspaper, but it was unclear if the gunman and his victims knew each other, or even if they were students or faculty members. Their names were not immediately disclosed by the police, but two were listed in critical condition.

The 8,000-student college’s Web site said that classes had been canceled and the campus put on “lockdown status” for the rest of today.

This is the third major shooting this year on an American campus. On February 8, a student at Louisiana Technical College at Baton Rouge killed two classmates and then herself. Less than a week later, a gunman at Northern Illinois University killed five people and wounded 16 before taking his own life. So far, at least, the shooting in Phoenix has not resulted in fatalities. —Andrew Mytelka

Comments

1. THE WILD WEST IS STILL WILD

   — Savage Detective    Jul 25, 10:41 AM    #

2. I had to deal with a student this past year who blocked my exit from a classroom. She refused to let me pass even after three requests. When she turned around to get something from her bag (who knows what?) I called loudly to other staff. I had never before been afraid in my classrooms but I was that day. We do not have metal detectors on our campus but I’ve been thinking that they might be a great idea.

   — Ann    Jul 25, 12:10 PM    #

3. The 21st century has brought so much agony and sadness to college campuses. As a nation, we need to look at our gun laws. But more than that, we need to look at the social environment that has erupted ….. why do people think that they can use a gun when things do not go their way?

   — IR    Jul 25, 12:38 PM    #

4. I had a similar experience to Ann’s this past year, except the student wouldn’t leave, even when I said I was calling security. The student was from a violence-torn place (Zimbabwe), but not given to violence himself. Students come to us with all sorts of ideas about appropriate behavior – who knows what is considered appropriate in some of these environments?

   — Betsy    Jul 25, 01:09 PM    #

5. I’m an instructor at a large AZ community college. Our classes are spread out across our service area, our classrooms lack phones, and we are essentially on our own to provide a safe learning environment. Community college classes often take place at night, after administration has gone home and the support systems in place are weak at best. Call 911 is the suggested response, but if don’t have your cellphone, you may need to ask a student for assistance.

   Some students arrive to class with mental illness issues, tweeking on meth, and present a danger to themselves and others. This presents a clear and present danger that instructors are neither trained nor equipped to address. Unfortunately it make take tragedies to bring needed change.

   Our thoughts and prayers are with you at SMCC.

   — AZ-CC    Jul 25, 01:10 PM    #

6. AZ-CC, I fail to see why classrooms need landline phones when most people have cellphones these days. As someone past student age, I don’t use my cellphone much, but I consider it basic security to have it with me.

   — Laura    Jul 25, 03:06 PM    #

7. All colleges and universities, anxious to maximize enrollment and income, enroll many students who are not mentally stable. Consideer the number of prescriptions written annually for depression. We need a more refined student screening process prior to enrollment. If we don’t, regretfully, there will be many more such incidents as occurred today in Phoenix.

   — Bill    Jul 25, 10:10 PM    #

8. Whoa!! Colleges cannot discriminate against people with a mental disorder any more than they can for any other disability. It’s the law.

   — DrBob    Jul 29, 08:31 AM    #

9. I do not teach at a large college, but I have had students argue with me over a grade and get right in my face. As an instructor who teaches nights, (and who used to teach high school), you absolutely must at ALL TIMES have your security in mind and have your cell phone on you! If I were teaching at a larger university, I would also carry pepper spray. It would be mere folly not to and I feel be living in a security ‘bubble’ that is not akin to the times.

   — Wendy    Jul 29, 09:57 AM    #

10. I have recently had a discussion with a cousin of mine who advocates for the NRA. I use discussion lightly as I lost my cool several times with him. His solution to gun toting students was to arm the faculty. This is a man who is educated, he has a master degree, and appeared to be lucid.
    My fear is that he is not alone. Gun control is not the answer for folks like him, “then the criminals will be the only ones with guns.”
    In my opinion, the gun manufacturers should have a legal responsibility in this. The fact that they produce so many guns that allows them to profit from more than hunting and sport shooting is irresponsible.
    Take it to the courts (oh gees that aught to resolve this…)

    — F Farrat    Jul 29, 10:17 AM    #

11. That’s not true, DrBob.

    Colleges can indeed limit class access to people with mental disorders—if the disorder puts others at risk.

    Colleges have the right to refuse to let a student with Meningitis into a classroom.

    Colleges have the right to refuse to let a disruptive student into a classroom.

    Colleges have the right to refuse to let a gun-carrying student into a classroom.

    And, colleges have a right to refuse to allow students with certain mental illnesses into a classroom.

    The critical factor is that the mental illness must be well documented and of a nature that puts others at risk…and colleges rarely get that sort of confirmation regarding a student’s mental illness.

    But no one has the right to put another individual in danger be that from communicable disease, disruptiveness, weapons, or mental illness. It’s just simply easier for the colleges to document, corroborate, and authenticate communicable diseases, disruptive behavior, and the presence of weapons than it is to confirm the seriousness of a mental disorder.

    Thus, students with serious mental disorders often wind up sitting in our classrooms…but that doesn’t mean that they have a right to be there…it may only mean that the right of the other students to be protected from the undocumented mental illness hasn’t been clearly established.

    Let a student disabled by Meningitis appear in your classroom and we’ll not only discriminate against their right to learn for the day…we’ll insist that they get the treatment they need to ensure their recovery and the protection of others. But for some reason we think that students with serious mental illnesses not only have a right to put themselves and others at risk, but that colleges have no duty to compel mental health treatment. The irony is that we’re not discriminating against the mentally ill when we intervene in clearly warranted situations…we’re actually prejudiced against them when we don’t.

    — TAB    Jul 29, 10:32 AM    #

12. Laura, if you rely on cell phones you’re putting the onus on the instructor for what is an institutional responsibility to provide a secure environment. Plus – how long does it take your cell phone to boot up? Do you have the college police set up on autodial? Will college police respond quickly to a report that comes from an outside number? Is your cell phone even in the same area code as the school? There are a lot of GOOD reasons for having a phone or intercom in classrooms.

    — Norm    Jul 29, 01:00 PM    #

13. #12 — I teach at a CC and our security suggested we put them on speed dial and carry our cell phones with us at all times. They are not being alarmists, but they made the point that it is not feasible to think that EVERY location can (or should) be equipped with phones or intercoms.

    — SLH    Jul 29, 02:25 PM    #

14. You can’t tell if someone is dangerous from a mental illness diagnosis. Most people who have a mental illness are not dangerous to others and they should still be able to get an education. Also, not all dangerous people have a mental illness. You cannot assume that this shooting, or any other shooting, is necessarily triggered by mental illness.

    — Carole    Jul 29, 10:33 PM    #

15. Tab, all of the college rights that you list may be accurate however, and it’s a BIG however, many times you may not know of these things until it’s too late. The application process does not and should not ask the questions that would need to be asked in order these things out.

    — Adrianne    Jul 31, 12:00 PM    #

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