DPS sends Trojans Alerts regarding alleged shooting
Posted November 26, 2012 at 6:59 pm in Blogs, CampusNow
Reports of a shooting on Monday night led the Dept. of Public Safety to send two Trojans Alerts to the USC community.
One alerted students, faculty and staff to an alleged shooting near Exposition Boulevard, and the second said that early reports were unfounded and the area was safe.
According to DPS Capt. David Carlisle, a DPS officer was on a routine patrol on Exposition Boulevard near Exposition Park when he heard what sounded like a gunshot. He then saw a man who thought someone driving by had shot at him, and identified the vehicle as a white Toyota truck with a camper shell.
The man also alleged that three Hispanic males were in the car.
Carlisle said that the department decided to send out a Trojans Alert immediately to keep students in the loop.
“At the time, we thought safety of the students first, let’s ensure the safety of the area by sending out a Trojans Alert,” Carlisle said.
After DPS officers began investigating the area, however, they realized no gunshots had occurred and identified the source of the noise as a car backfiring.
Despite the inaccuracy of the initial alert, some students said they were pleased with the way DPS handled the reports of the shooting.
“It frustrates me that the incident was in fact unfounded, but that being said, it didn’t cause me any major inconvenience,” Matt Cheung, a freshman majoring in communication, said. “I’m glad that DPS is taking the approach of Trojans being safe rather than sorry.”
Other students, however, like Brianna Pak, a freshman majoring in industrial systems engineering, said they weren’t so happy with the way DPS handled the incident.
“I understand that DPS is trying to be safe as opposed to sorry, but I think they should verify their facts before they talk to students,” she said. “I mean, how do you not know if there was or wasn’t a shooting? It causes unnecessary fear and delegitimizes their alerts in the case of a real emergency.”
Though DPS aims to be accurate and quick with Trojans Alerts, Carlisle said the department would rather err on the side of caution.
“The bottom line is a man mistakenly thought a noise was a gunshot, and we sent out a Trojans Alert just to be safe,” Carlisle said.
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This article is tagged: david carlisle, Department of Public Safety, DPS, Exposition Boulevard, exposition park, false alarm, shooting, trojans alert, USC
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Twan is just another race baiting angry black male
I agree with Rodney. As a Black student at USC, that comment was not only uncalled for, but sets us back in addition to the advances and contributions we have made as students. Grow up Twan.
Hmm, no young black males involved so it must be “unfounded”
Now some pretentious “white student” is going to call me a racist for merely pointing out the facts
Who gonna be first?
“Unfounded” means that no shooting actually occurred. A car backfired.
So you would rather that there actually was a shooting just so it can prove your point that young black males aren’t the only ones who shoot?
That’s disgusting.
I don’t know about racist, but as a black individual myself, stupid is the word.