Brown University is facing questions over its security policies after its emergency sirens never sounded in response to Saturday's shooting, while taking nearly 20 minutes to send an alert out to students. The scrutiny comes after campus cops passed no-confidence votes against their police chief and questioned the school's emergency response capabilities.
Rodney Chatman, the university's director of public safety and emergency management, blamed the lack of sirens on the hectic nature of the crisis. He said police became aware of the incident when an officer saw students fleeing the scene.
Fire officials learned of the shooting at 4:05 p.m., according to Providence fire chief Derek Silva. Students didn't receive an alert until 4:22—17 minutes later, according to the Rhode Island Current. They were then warned to lock their doors, run, hide, and "FIGHT as a last resort."
From there, Brown issued and retracted a series of alerts. It sent one at 4:51 saying a suspect was in custody, then another 20 minutes later walking back that claim. A 5:27 alert warned that there was another shooting, but a 6:10 message said that was actually "unfounded."
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