For more than three weeks now the D.C area has been terrorized by an apparently professional sniper who chooses random at an alarmingly fast pace. Since the first strike on Oct. 2, 13 victims have been shot, nine fatally.
Although far removed from the shootings, Fairfield students are afraid.
“I think it’s really sad and scary,” said Marissa Savocchia, ’04. “I wouldn’t know or expect to walk out the door and think someone may shoot me. If it were to happen here it would be so surreal.”
Deanna Pavone, ’04, agreed that “because it’s in D.C it’s not hitting home as much as it would if we had a sniper shooting here at Fairfield. With 9-11 it affected us so much more because we live in the area and we knew people that were involved, whereas someone across the country would think it was terrible, but it couldn’t possibly be the same for them because of how far away they were.”
Fairfield University Security hopes that the situation will not gravitate to Connecticut, but are prepared in the event that something like that should happen. Commenting on the shootings in D.C. and the possibility of it moving up here, Associate Director of Security Frank Ficko said that “you hope something like that never occurs here, and I like to think that we’re prepared for any emergency which does occur.”
Ficko goes on to explain that “with the Washington shootings you’re dealing with a very complex issue.” As of now, the D.C. police have not apprehended a suspect and the leads that they do have deal more with what type of car the perpetrator may have then any kind of description of the actual criminal.
The Washington shootings involve many different levels of police authority, including local, state and federal.
“I would assume that in the event of an emergency of that magnitude we too would be assisted by numerous agencies,” said Ficko.
In the event that the shootings, or something similar, were to come up here, Ficko explained that there would be an overall tightening of security and extra patrols, but beyond that he could not go into explicit detail.
Beyond the duty of the security officers in an event such as the shooting, Ficko hoped that “we would count on the campus community serving as eyes and ears for everyone being alert and knowing their surroundings.”
Above all Ficko would advise students to be cautious at all times, not only in the event of an emergency, but from day to day. Most of the crimes committed here on campus are the direct result of someone propping open doors or letting people into locked dorms. He said that these incidents could be prevented by simple precautions.Ficko said that “Fairfield isn’t surrounded by a magic bubble keeping the good guys on and the bad guys off, but you would hope that with all the authorities involved there will be a conclusion to all this relatively quickly.”
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