INDIANAPOLIS — As the Michigan State community mourns the victims of Monday night's mass shooting, students around Indiana are expressing concerns about campus safety.
"It is scary," said Medard Mikobi, an IUPUI sophomore.
News of the shooting on MSU's campus Monday night had spread around central Indiana college campuses by Tuesday.
"It's just sad that it has to happen. It's crazy, shocking," said Josemir Gomez, a sophomore at IUPUI.
"But it's pretty scary to think about," said Cameron Andrews, an IUPUI freshman.
Many IUPUI students say they mostly feel safe while on campus.
"I mean, yeah, I feel safe, but I feel like the Michigan students could have felt the same, you know, anything could happen at any point," Gomez said.
"Our hearts are with the Spartan community and all of the families," said Brice Teter, IUPUI's deputy police chief.
Teter said active shooter situations are something officers train for, working with other law enforcement and community agencies in case the worst should happen here.
"Our officers are prepared, IUPD is prepared. We require all of our officers to go through training and then, additionally, we offer educational sessions for the community which is our Run Hide Fight program," Teter said. “We would do whatever it takes to keep our campus and community safe."
That training can help educate students on how to respond to an active shooter.
If there is an issue on campus, messaging systems notify students.
"I get notices when things are bad, especially all the way down in Bloomington," Andrews said.
“We have different types of messages we will send out," said Teter. "Emergency alerts would be more along the lines of an active shooter or active aggressor, and that would be sent by text and other modalities such as Twitter."
Teter said they're constantly working to evolve and update training and emergency response plans, so they're as ready as they can be if something should happen.
"These incidents are rare, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared and have a plan," said Teter. "And that's something we stress and encourage."
He's urging everyone on campus, if you see something that seems off, report it.
Students say, right now, they feel safe on campus. It's a feeling they hope will last.
"You never know what could happen, what crazy person could just decide to do something crazy one day," Mikobi said.
"Like, back of your mind, you know anything could happen at this point," Gomez said.