Morgan State University to Build Wall Around Campus After Shooting
One week after a shooting that left five people injured during homecoming festivities, Morgan State University announced a plan on Tuesday to build a wall around the majority of the campus and station security personnel at entrances and exits....
Facts
- One week after a shooting that left five people injured during homecoming festivities, Morgan State University announced a plan on Tuesday to build a wall around the majority of the campus and station security personnel at entrances and exits.1
- The new wall will extend existing barriers on the campus by about 8K feet, surrounding roughly 90% of the campus. University President David Wilson stated that the security upgrades would effectively 'eliminate unfettered access.'2
- Wilson reaffirmed that the proposition was not intended to “keep out our neighbors and our community writ large,” but rather to “keep out the bad actors.”3
- Since the shooting on Oct. 3, the school has increased city and campus police presence. The Baltimore Police Department is currently attempting to identify two persons of interest caught on surveillance cameras on campus. On Tuesday, police released a still of the people investigators want to identify.4
- The school plans to ask the Maryland state legislature and congressional delegation for the $22,225,000 needed for the campus security upgrades, including $6.4M for the wall.5
Sources: 1ABC News, 2Associated Press, 3USA Today, 4CBS and 5New York Daily News.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by ABC News. Morgan State University is trying to be proactive and prevent an incidents like the Oct. 3 shooting from being repeated. As the shooting emphasized, gun violence has become an ever-growing threat in American schools, and educational institutions must improve security in order to protect their students.
- Narrative B, as provided by Time. Schools across the country like Morgan State University are spending millions of dollars to improve security measures on their campuses, but it is not clear if these measures will actually be effective. Instead of excessively 'hardening' schools with cameras, law enforcement presence, and physical barriers, lawmakers need to put funding towards stopping gun violence at its root through by toughening firearm regulations and improving access to mental health care.
