I am sure most U of M students are aware of the incident that occurred on Nov. 19. The Winnipeg Police Service issued an emergency alert to notify the public of a dangerous person on the Fort Garry campus with a large knife.
The suspect was described extremely vaguely as being a Black male in black clothing — a description that could probably fit hundreds of university students on a random Tuesday.
The exact time the university’s administration or police department was first made aware of this situation is unclear.
For the first hour of the morning, I had to make judgements based on Telegram group chats, news articles and social media. CBC News Manitoba posted an article concerning the incident at 7:56 a.m., but I received the alert from the police department at around 8:28 a.m., and an official email from the university at 9:57 a.m.
While I do not expect every party to deliver critical news at the exact same time, I find it strange that for about two hours, a suspected dangerous person was on campus, and the university gave no official statement or clear instructions for students to follow to ensure their safety.
The haziness of the university’s communication was furthered when I received an email at 11:11 a.m. notifying students about the Winnipeg Police Service report which stated that the situation had been “resolved,” there was no longer an “imminent threat to public safety” and life on campus could go back to normal.
I know many students are still not satisfied with this response.
It lacks critical information and sounds somewhat cryptic. It is like an enigmatic clue you might find in a Sherlock Holmes movie that has to be decoded and then followed to the truth. What does it mean that the situation has been “resolved?” Why do I, as a student, feel like I need to solve this email?
Although it was supposed to be informative, the university’s insufficient communication left students with even more questions than answers. The only resolution I can see from an emergency alert about a dangerous person is that this person has been apprehended, but the email stated no such thing. This makes students wonder what is being kept from them. Why do they not have all the facts concerning an incident that threatened their safety?
Additionally, the email stated that life on campus could resume, but how can any student be expected to roam the halls of our campus and feel safe doing so when we still do not know the status of this dangerous person? Did the police catch him or not? If not, where is he now? And how can they guarantee that he is no longer a threat to public safety?
It seems that we are in the dark about much of the information surrounding this incident, and as students at this university, I believe we deserve better. This matter affects us and so we are entitled to the truth about it.
I understand that the responsibility does not lie solely with the university.
The administration is probably not privy to all the information and must rely on the police report. However, whatever they know, we should know.
Both the police department and university administration owe it to the public to be honest about the knife incident. Clear and transparent communication is critical, especially in a situation where the safety of the students at this university is under threat.
In my opinion, this entire situation seems far too ambiguous. From the description of the man to the time we received the news and even the resolution itself. The information we have been given just does not add up.
As a student at this university and a member of the public, I deserve to know what is really going on. We all do. After all, our safety and well-being were under threat on Tuesday, and without transparency from both the university and the police department, how can we feel safe on our campus?
