West Virginia University - News and Information Services
UPDATE: Victims of weekend, off-campus shooting not WVU students
West Virginia University officials have confirmed that the victims of Saturday's (Oct. 27) off-campus shooting at The District Apartments were not WVU students.
“The safety of our students is a primary concern, no matter where they live,” said Bob Roberts, chief of WVU’s Department of Public Safety. “Although this incident did not directly involve our students, hundreds of WVU students live in this apartment complex. WVU has coordinated with the agencies involving this incident since early Saturday, and will offer crime prevention assistance to students at the site tonight.”
The shooting occurred about 5 a.m. Saturday morning (Oct. 27) at an apartment complex in suburban Morgantown, about 2 miles from WVU’s Evansdale campus. The sheriff's department continues its investigation.
University police continue to work closely with management of the District and the Monongalia County Sheriff's Department. The University administration is reviewing the communications system used to alert students of the incident, including the text message system used for the first time this weekend.
- This evening:
- At 6 p.m. staff from WVU's Carruth Center for Counseling and Psychological Services will be available at The District. Students are encouraged to call the center at 304-293-4431 for counseling services.
- At 6:30 p.m., WVU’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) will be meeting with management and residents of The District to discuss crime prevention and building security. DPS had officers who assisted at Saturday’s incident.
- At 6 p.m. staff from WVU's Carruth Center for Counseling and Psychological Services will be available at The District. Students are encouraged to call the center at 304-293-4431 for counseling services.
- The Parent Advocate will be sending a Parent E-News message to update parents on the weekend incident and services being offered. They will also be reminded to encourage their students to sign up for the text alert system which also allows students to enter a second contact number of their choice to receive these alerts.
- Students and employees are encouraged to sign up for the University's text message notification system. Once registered, individuals are automatically signed-up to receive emergency notices. Users must go into their account to register to receive alerts about crime and weather-related closings and delays. Saturday’s text notice was sent out via the crime alert. Individuals who did not register to receive crime alerts did not receive the message.
- Emergency Alerts: Utilized when an incident has occurred or is likely to occur placing members of the university community in imminent danger.
- Crime Alerts: Utilized for major crimes – such as this shooting incident -- which have occurred on or off-campus which may affect members of the university community.
- Weather Alerts: Utilized when weather conditions have, or will cause delays and additionally when such conditions have or will close the university.
As of today (Oct. 29), nearly 7,000 students, faculty and staff have signed up for WVU Alert.
To register for "WVU Alert," faculty and staff should go to http://emergency.wvu.edu/alert/; students can sign onto Mountaineer Information Xpress (MIX) and click on the emergency alert system icon. (NOTE: If off-campus, people will be asked to supply their MASTERID.) Students and employees should have their cell phones handy to verify the access code once confirmation comes through.
Students, faculty and staff can opt-in to the service by entering their cell phone numbers and other information online.
WVU alerts can be received through the following:
- Mobile phone (via SMS text message)
- Blackberry
- Wireless PDA
- Text pager
- School email & personal e-mail accounts
- Personal portal (My Yahoo, iGoogle or My AOL page)
- RSS reader
In an emergency, more detailed information about the situation can also be found on the WVU Web site: http://emergency.wvu.edu/.
For more information on the incident, please contact the Monongalia County Sheriff's Department at (304) 291-7260.
Office: (304) 293-6997