Apr 16, 2007 4:49 pm US/Pacific
Virginia Shootings Strike Chord At CSU Fullerton
FULLERTON (CBS) ―
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"There's no way to secure a college campus" like a high school campus, Gehrles said. "All a (campus) police department can do is train its officers pro-actively."
CBS
The deadly shooting today on a Virginia college campus struck a familiar chord at Cal State Fullerton, where a man gunned down seven people in 1976, but steps have been taken on the campus to guard against a recurrence, a police official said.
In response to the shootings at Columbine High School in 1999 in Littleton, Colo., officers at the university's police department are armed and ready to respond to acts of violence, Lt. Tom Gehrles said. That's a change from July 12, 1976, when Edward Allaway carried out a series of shootings, leaving seven people dead and two wounded.
"The old philosophy in a security incident was for (campus officers) to wait for specialized weapons teams to come in," Gehrles said.
But since the shooting at Columbine High School, "we have trained and equipped officers to respond to an active shooter and actively engage him to limit the number of casualties," Gehrles said.
Cal State Fullerton has a 22-officer force that provides security 24 hours a day, Gehrles said.
There are two detectives to investigate crime, with five officers on duty when classes are in session, he said.
Officers carry weapons, but also carry rifles and shotguns in patrol units so they can respond quickly, Gehrles said.
"There's no way to secure a college campus" like a high school campus, Gehrles said. "All a (campus) police department can do is train its officers pro-actively."
Allaway, who was a janitor, has sought several times to win his release from a mental hospital, where he has been confined since he was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1977. At his trial, Allaway testified that homosexual men were using the school's library for sexual liaisons and were plotting to kill him.
He has been housed at Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino County. During his last bid for release in 2001, said he testified that he had cured himself of schizophrenia.
But mental health experts testified there was no way to tell whether Allaway might suffer the same type of delusions that led him to commit the killings.
Allaway appealed Orange County Superior Court Judge Frank Fasel's refusal to release him, but the decision was upheld by the California Supreme Court.
A grove of pine trees was planted on the campus in memory of the shooting victims.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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