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A shelter in place alert was issued for Georgia Southwestern on April 23 after a man was seen with a fire arm on campus. The man was spotted in the Magnolia Courtyard area, before moving off campus. A suspect was arrested at the 1400 block of South Lee Street without any injuries occurring or shots fired.

Makyon Tolbert told where he was at when the alert went out. “I was actually in the cafeteria. They wouldn’t let me leave.” Tolbert became stir crazy. “I was getting a little annoyed from sitting in there, so I decided [to] take it upon myself and leave and go back to my room.” Tolbert stated he saw officers leaving to respond to the situation.

Analiese Bevans describes the experience as nerve wracking. “Just sitting there not knowing too much information is kind of scary.”

Kamari Gibbons received an email alert while she was walking to class. When she arrived, they locked the doors and closed the blinds. “It was scary.” She recalls texting her friends to make sure they were okay. “I hope it doesn’t happen again.”

Georgia Southwestern President Michelle Johnston commented after the shelter in place alert was lifted. She stated the man was not a student, but was unaware of his reason for coming onto campus. “We are going to take every measure to make sure that our campus is safe, so if we see something that is suspicious or appears to be a threat, we’re going to take action.”

In addition to campus police, the Americus Police Department, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Department, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation were all involved in the response. Johnston stated that they kept students alerted throughout the situation. “I just want students to know how important it is to stay connected through our alert systems and our website and our email.” She encouraged students not to pay attention to rumors but to follow official sources.

She expressed concern for student welbeing in the wake of the incident. “We’ll work now to support anyone on campus that needs that and make sure that we have comfort and care for our community here.”