AU Alert issued after off-campus stabbing

Auburn University officials decided to use its emergency notification system Wednesday after a stabbing was reported at an off-campus apartment.

AU Alert notified its users of a stabbing at The Edge Apartments on South College Street and that the Auburn Police Division was actively searching the area for the suspect. The alert also warned people to be cautious and report anything unusual to the police.

“Given the proximity to campus and the uncertainty at the time (of the suspect), we wanted to be proactive to let the students and faculty know what was going on,” said Mike Clardy, web and news manager for the Office of Communications and Marketing.

Auburn officials moved to create a notification system in the wake of the shooting at Virginia Tech last year, the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, which left 32 people and the gunman dead. Wednesday was the one-year anniversary of the incident.

Students, faculty and staff can receive alerts through the system via cell phone text messages, cell and land line phone voice messages, and e-mails to all campus addresses.

AU Alert has been criticized in recent weeks, especially since the March 4 death of freshman Lauren Burk. Students were not immediately told a student had been killed or that the suspect was at-large.

At that time, policy dictated that the system only be used for emergency situations that required immediate action. The event, albeit tragic, did not fit that criteria, according to university officials.

That policy has since changed. Clardy said university officials had a sense of urgency Wednesday to notify the campus community because the suspect was at-large and the incident occurred so close to campus.

Every time AU Alert is tested or used, the university gets feedback, but Clardy is hopeful students and faculty understand why it was used this time.

After receiving extensive complaints, university officials decided last week to stop using AU Alert for severe weather watches. However, it will still be used for weather warnings and watches that could impact the campus.

“Any time it involves student and faculty safety, we are going to send it out,” Clardy said.

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