Letter to the editor

‘Ides of October’ investigation requires transparency

Like every student and staff member at UW-River Falls, I received an email over a month ago stating that someone had threatened to shoot up our school.

We do not know who the letter was from or their actual intentions, only that they had threatened to commit the crime on Oct. 15. The issue of guns at schools has been a topic of debate since the mid-1800s. Year after year, students and faculty die at the hands of a shooter in a place that is supposed to be safe. In the past two years alone, seventy-four innocent lives were lost. Usually these events are surprising and devastating.

“We never would have guessed this would happen,” people say. As the day drew near, there was an obvious increase of law enforcement on our campus, especially on Oct. 15. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took over the investigation so that our campus could focus on security. The day came and went, with law enforcement leaving our campus rather swiftly. By the following Monday, it was like nothing had ever happened. It has been almost one month now and as a community we still have no idea where the investigation stands.

There has been no follow up by the university to students and faculty, other than two follow-up stories reported by the Student Voice. I write this letter as a call to the university and law enforcement to continue the conversation between investigators and the campus population. We need information, even if it is just an update about where the investigation stands.

Danielle Brintz
UWRF student