The Syracuse University community was alerted to seek shelter and barricade doors for 45 minutes today, after the Department of Public Safety issued an 11:39 a.m. alert of gunshots fired on Madison Street.

In what DPS Chief Tony Callisto called the first real activation of the Orange Alert system, the message instructed its recipients to stay inside and lock or barricade all doors.

A male, approximately 20 years old, was shot in the neck while sitting in his car near the corner of Madison Street and University Avenue, said Lt. Joseph Cecile of the Syracuse Police Department.

The victim was targeted by the gunman, and was not a SU student or affiliated with the university, Cecile said. He was taken to Upstate Medical Center and was in critical condition as of Monday afternoon, Cecile said.

The alert said the suspect drove north, away from campus, in a silver Hyundai Elentra.

DPS Chief Callisto said he became aware of the incident around 11:30 a.m. and instructed DPS to issue an alert to the 27,000 people registered with the Orange Alert system – including students, faculty, staff and parents.

‘I knew there was a potential threat to this community,’ Callisto said. ‘I’d rather be safe than sorry.’

The system was created 13 months ago, and has been tested four times, including Wednesday. Callisto said there was never any doubt that the university would issue an alert for this incident.

‘If there’s a threat to life and safety at Syracuse University, I’m going to put one of these messages out,’ he said. ‘These alerts are the real thing. Unless it says ‘test’ on it, it’s the real thing.’

But some students were unresponsive to the message, Callisto said, and DPS officers had to encourage students walking around campus to go indoors.

University staff, including employees of the parking services, Fixit and the physical plant, were involved in securing the campus, Callisto said. Faculty also kept students inside after receiving the message.

But there are also parents registered on the system, and Callisto said that hindered DPS’ efforts to make sure the campus was safe.

‘We had parents and all kinds of people calling in for information,’ Callisto said. ‘And that really created a backup in our system. We want the people with information to be able to call in.’

There was no restriction of bus services throughout the 45-minute alert period, Callisto said. He added that if necessary, DPS could contact Centro by radio to stop buses.

shmelike@syr.edu

Published on November 23, 2008 at 12:00 pm