Jonesboro, AR – JonesboroRightNow.com – Four people were injured during a weekend shooting at Arkansas State University, leaving officials to investigate how university police were misled by organizers into believing a large, non-sanctioned event was a registered student gathering.
An active shooter alert was issued at 12:38 a.m. on Sunday to students and faculty. “An active shooter has been reported in the area of Unity Park,” the alert read.
JRN reached out to A-State for more information. University officials confirmed Monday that responding officers were told the gathering followed appropriate procedures, when in reality, the event had moved to the campus at the last minute.
| READ MORE: Active Shooter Alert on A-State Campus
“Based on social media posts, it appears the event was organized by a third-party promoter who hosts parties across the state,” said Todd Clark, chief marketing and communications officer for Arkansas State University. “The event was originally scheduled for a different location in Jonesboro. On Saturday, the promoter posted that the original venue had been canceled and they were moving the event to Unity Park and removing the cover charge.”
Unity Park is located North of Aggie Road and east of the nursing building parking lot. According to Clark, “Unity Park is an outdoor space at A-State that serves as a designated gathering place for National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) members. It features nine flag poles for “The Divine Nine” NPHC organizations on campus. It is often reserved for campus events, similar to Heritage Plaza Lawn and other spaces in the Reng Student Union.”
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Just before midnight on Saturday, police received several calls about the party at Unity Park. The party had, according to the calls, hundreds of people with lots of partying, drinking, and fighting.
After being notified of the calls by the E-911 Dispatch Center, a University Police Department officer responded, saying, “We were just out there, there is no fighting, there are quite a few people, loud noise, but it’s a registered event, can’t shut them down.”
“Campus police noticed the gathering and were misled by attendees that the event was registered and that the appropriate procedures had been followed,” said Clark.
According to Clark, when a registered student organization hosts a social event on campus, it must register that event with Student Affairs. “By registering the event, they share the date, time, and location with the university,” he said. “If an event is social in nature and scheduled on campus after 10 pm, A-State advises the group on issues such as security, controlled access, noise control, and maximum crowd capacity. Because this was not organized by a registered student group, and there was a last-minute venue change, we were not aware in advance.”
The Arkansas State Police have taken the lead on the investigation and are still gathering facts about the incident. Anyone with details, particularly video, is encouraged to call (870) 935-7303.
“We are grateful that no lives were lost in this incident,” read a statement from Arkansas State University.
Clark added, “Arkansas State University takes campus safety very seriously and is reviewing the events of this weekend to ensure our policies and procedures are in place, effective, and being followed.”
This is a developing story. JRN will provide updates as they are available.
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