WCU administrators working to make campus safer - WDAM-TV 7-News, Weather, Sports-Hattiesburg, MS

With the recent murder-suicide at UCLA in California, how prepared are local campuses for active shooter situations?

Walter Cooper at William Carey University is a professor with over 20 years of training experience.

Cooper is a part of a group that prepares administrators for active shooter situations.

It’s a program that teaches those administrators how to deal with a situation if it occurs.

“We all probably grew up with fire drills, but having to have drills for active shooter situation for the possibility of a hostage situation or the possibility of a explosion is new and different for all of us," Cooper said when talking about the benefits of the program.

Students also have a chance to be proactive with Saderwatch.

Saderwatch is William Carey’s emergency notification system.

It alerts students to potential dangers on campus.

These dangers are not limited to just active shooters. Students also receive alerts when severe weather happens.

“This is a voluntary enrollment but we encourage everybody to enroll.

Especially faculty, students, everybody because we do have the technology to quickly get the word out now,” Cooper said after demonstrating how Saderwatch works.

Professors on campus are encouraged to participate in the four-week program later this summer.

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