WINONA, Minn. – The campus security director at Winona State, Chris Cichosz, acknowledged two errors on an internal campus emergency notification network that needlessly elevated public concern about a West Side stabbing. The campus alert included the term “active shooter,” when actually there was no firearm involved. Cichosz declined to point specific blame, but sources said a part-time student employee staffing the campus security office had assumed that a shelter-in-place order from police meant there as an active shooter. The police order, however, did not say anything about a shooter. The order was intended only to clear people out of a police perimeter being searched for a suspect in a crime that didn’t involve any firearm. Once ghe WSU alert went out to roughly 10,000 students and employyees, it took on a life of its own.Like a a virus it infected internal netorks around town and keot loopig back itself in online chatter. Cichosz said the error also was compounded by information that the police perimeter included the campus. In reality the search was near only at the university’s former College of St. Teresa campus 1-1/2 miles away on the West End. Winona State abandoned the so-called West Campus three years ago.
Verbatim
Cichosz: “We apologize for any confusion or unnecessary concern created by the succession of messages. Our top priority is the safety of our campus community. We use the WSU Alert emergency notification system to provide clear, timely information with the goal of keeping the members of our community safe. We are conducting a review of our processes and partnerships with local law enforcement agencies, along with our messaging technology, to learn from this incident and improve our notification process for the future.”
Cichosz. Former deputy sheriff. Campus security chief eight years.