In the case of a student on campus with a weapon, the campus police are prepared to handle the situation. Instructors however, aren’t as prepared for such an incident.

“Any kind of gun on a college campus, whether loaded or unloaded, is still a violation of the law,” Sgt. Dal Toruno said. “So, whether your gun is in the trunk and your bullets are in the glove compartment like it’s legal to do, because this is a college campus it is against the law.”

Along with legal ramifications, students found to have a weapon will also face administrative action and possibly a hearing regarding their status as a student at EC. 

For Sara Blake, English instructor and basic skills coordinator for the Humanities Division, she isn’t sure what she would do in a situation where a student had a weapon in her class.

“I don’t know what I’d do,” Blake said. “I would probably panic, I’d tell everyone to get down and go under their desk, but I don’t think that would be the best idea.”

Along with Blake, Susan Bachmann, English professor, was also unsure how she would handle the situation.

“My instincts would be to do what I can to keep the situation calm,” Bachmann said. “I’d try to talk down the person in any way I can.”

Most instructors welcomed the idea of having workshops on campus where they could learn what to do in those situations.

“I think a class would be very useful,” Bachmann said. “There’s no problem with being too prepared. If you know what to do beyond your instincts and have the training to know the next step that would help.”

“I for one would be one person that would be at one of the classes,” Claudette Parks, reading instructor said. 

Campus police is ready in any situation where a student is being suspicious or may be believed to have a weapon, Toruno said.

“We’ll try to be as low-key as possible if we just know a student has possession of a weapon,” Toruno said. “We’ll go to the classroom and we might even have somebody in plain clothes get into the class as a student and then kind of surprise the student and gain control of the student and safely remove the weapon and take him into custody and find out what he’s doing with his weapon.”

In the case of a student running around campus with a gun, campus police are prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives and neutralize the threat.

“In the old days, we were trained to wait for the SWAT team to get there, but since Columbine and those type of incidents, we have to eliminate the threat,” Toruno said.  “We’ve been trained, we draw support from the Gardena Police Department on active shooter training,  we are trained in that we used the officers on duty and we can also call surrounding agencies for any assistance.”

“If you have someone who is out there just shooting around, you lock down what you can,” Toruno said. “You lock down the classrooms and handle the threat.”

Some knives, depending on the size, are allowed on campus, but they must be displayed at all times. 

Pepper spray is also always allowed without the need of any formal training. Tasers are also allowed on campus, but need formal training.

“We try to tell students not to bring any kind of weapon to campus,” Toruno said. “If you have any question about it, don’t bring it, it’s not worth it.”

With the incidents in Tucson and at Gardena High School, EC is prepared for anything that may happen on campus.

With students’ safety in mind, the Campus Police are ready to save lives and do everything necessary to do so.