Earlier Monday, one student was killed and three others were seriously wounded during a stabbing attacking at the University of Texas campus. At the time, students took to social media to monitor the situation and expressed frustration that the university’s emergency alert system was slow to respond.
“There’s been a stabbing spree and we’ve gotten no updates from UT,” wrote Twitter user Lil Kells From 112th at 2:11 p.m.
“My friend in Spain has given me more info about the attack on campus than the UT emergency alert system,” another Twitter user, Joe Mason, posted at 2:08 p.m. “What’s going on?”
Austin Emergency Medical Services received the first reports of a stabbing on campus near Gregory Gym at 1:46 P.M. At 1:55 P.M. the American-Statesman tweeted a breaking news alert about the attack. At 2:07 P.M. the Austin Police Department tweeted that reports of multiple stabbings were coming in and that people should avoid the Gregory Gym area.
Several students reported that their first emergency alert from UT came at 2:14 P.M., roughly 30 minutes after the event during which time the news had spread across campus through word-of-mouth.
Rhonda Weldon, a UT spokeswoman, said the school has a collection of staff members who monitor and respond to social media during incidents.
“It is being monitored and we are coordinating our responses with APD as soon as we know what reality is,” Weldon said. She continued that rumors of an attack in West Campus were quickly prove false by the Austin Police Department and retweeted by RT. She could, however, explain why UT didn’t post more quickly and frequently during the incident.
UT Austin Students Frustrated With School's Slow Emergency Alert Response
