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<p>While any campus security incident that grabs national news is reason to evaluate current practices, local college and university security directors interviewed felt they were already as prepared as they could be for anything similar to the Ohio State University attack that left 11 students injured Monday.</p><p>For starters, the Ohio State event ended with quick action by an armed campus officer, and three Luzerne County campuses have armed security officers &#8212; Luzerne County Community College, Wilkes University and King&#8217;s College.</p><p>LCCC Security Director Bill Barrett said the school had a safety committee meeting shortly after the Ohio State attack, and that it came up a lot.</p><p>&#8220;In this case we wanted to know if there was any particular way to prevent this from happening,&#8221; Barrett said. But the consensus was &#8220;we think we made the right move several years ago when we did arm security officers.&#8221;</p><p>Somali-born student Abdul Razak Ali Artan carried out a car-and-knife attack Monday before being shot and killed by a police officer. Three of the 11 people injured in the attack remain hospitalized and are expected to recover, according to the Ohio State medical center.</p><p>Wilkes Security Chief Christopher Jagoe said that campus, as well as King&#8217;s College, have the added advantage of being in downtown Wilkes-Barre, with the city police headquarters &#8220;literally around the corner.&#8221; The fact that city streets bisect the campus and that it is small enough to be completely walk-able increase potential response, he said.</p><p>And Wilkes has spearheaded efforts to have campus security and surrounding police departments in sync regarding training, language and protocols in responding to possible campus emergencies, Jagoe added.</p><p>Misericordia University Campus Security Director Robert Zavada said that, while there are no armed guards on campus, administration has high confidence in the response of nearby police. That confidence is based in part on a recent study of response times.</p><p>All three also said they do not foresee &#8212; though also don&#8217;t rule out &#8212; the idea of setting up some more barriers between roads and pedestrians. The Ohio State attack began with the suspect driving a car into a group of people, according to published reports, though he got out of the car and started assaulting people with a knife.</p><p>Barrett and Zavada said their institutions are reviewing traffic patterns, but not considering barriers.</p><p>&#8220;You can only target-harden a place so much before it becomes a walled prison,&#8221; Jagoe said, &#8220;and this is an open campus.&#8221;</p><p>All three also said they have systems similar to &#8212; if not the same as &#8212; the one used by Ohio State to notify students of what was occurring and provide frequent updates.</p><p>&#8220;It allows us, without jumping through any hoops or red tape, to get info out to students, faculty and staff,&#8221; Zavada said, adding that the system can be accessed for updates on scene if needed.</p><p>Misericordia recently added a feature allowing students to text security about possible issues, intended primarily as a tip line, but Zavada noted it can be used by students on scene who may be able to provide useful information to responders.</p><p>Jagoe felt such a system at Wilkes could be counterproductive because it can distract a student from reacting to what&#8217;s happening around them, and can overload responders with too much information.</p><p>And all three said their campuses have adopted some form of the newer &#8220;run-hide-fight&#8221; strategy recently recommended by the federal Department of Homeland Security, though they stressed a simplistic interpretation can lead to disaster.</p><p>The system is increasingly replacing the older &#8220;lockdown&#8221; response to such attacks. People being threatened are encouraged to run if possible, to hide if necessary and to fight as a last resort.</p><p>But Zavada said it is a misinterpretation to think running is a first option. &#8220;We don&#8217;t want people running into danger,&#8221; he said, noting that someone could have rushed into the attack at Ohio State rather than from it.</p><p>&#8220;It isn&#8217;t necessarily flee first,&#8221; Zavada said. &#8220;When I talk to groups I say there are three elements to that, but if your first option is to hide, you might do that.&#8221;</p><p>Jagoe said he prefers the phrase &#8220;avoid, deny and defend.&#8221; The first goal is to avoid the scene of an attack to begin with. If that&#8217;s not possible, don&#8217;t simply hide, actively work to deny access by, say, stacking furniture against a door. That can also be part of &#8220;defend,&#8221; rather than fighting.</p><p>All three conceded it&#8217;s impossible to stop all attacks, but proper training and preparation can minimize them. Zavada said it helps for area colleges to share information on their efforts, precisely because they are all much smaller than sprawling institutions like Ohio State.</p><p>Barrett said campuses may present a particularly ripe target because they are densely populated at certain times and easily accessible.</p><p>And Jagoe said its important for security staff, students and the public not to get complacent. &#8220;Unfortunately, when a situation like this occurs, it&#8217;s a good point to remind people it&#8217;s still possible.&#8221;</p><p><em>The Associated Press contributed to this report.</em></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Students Tanner Hale and Kayla Croyle attend a vigil Tuesday following an attack at The Ohio State University campus the previous day in Columbus, Ohio. Security directors at area colleges and universities say they are as prepared as they can be for such an incident. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_AP16335045478102.jpg</photo0><caption0>Students Tanner Hale and Kayla Croyle attend a vigil Tuesday following an attack at The Ohio State University campus the previous day in Columbus, Ohio. Security directors at area colleges and universities say they are as prepared as they can be for such an incident. </caption0><photoCredit0>AP photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Local campus security chiefs feel prepared for attacks like the one in Ohio