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Hamilton
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Germanna Community College has staff on each hallway ready to direct evacuations in an emergency, phones with intercoms in each classroom, and urges students to register for text-message alerts.
Those are among the steps the college implemented in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, GCC President David Sam said yesterday.
After this week's shooting at the Woodbridge campus of Northern Virginia Community College, Sam said security procedures will be reviewed again to be sure the best options are in place.
"We'll debrief with the Northern Virginia folks as soon as we can and see what we can learn from them," he said.
Shortly before 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, a 20-year-old Manassas-area man entered a classroom full of students in the main administration building of the Woodbridge campus, pulled a high-powered rifle out of a bag and fired twice at assistant professor Tatyana Kravchuk, according to Prince William County police.
Kravchuk was able to escape injury by dropping behind her desk, said police spokeswoman Erika Hernandez.
No one was injured, and police arrested Jason Michael Hamilton without incident, according to Hernandez.
Hamilton was a student in Kravchuk's class and apparently was upset about his grades, police said.
Hamilton was charged with attempted murder and discharging a firearm in a school zone. He is being held without bond and has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan. 11.
Police said Hamilton bought his weapon, a Marlin 30-06 bolt-action rifle, from a sporting goods store near the campus the day before the shooting.
The rifle apparently jammed when he reloaded, preventing him from firing a third round, according to Hernandez.
Sam said he knew early on about the Woodbridge incident but didn't need to take any steps at Germanna campuses.
"We were blessed that what happened [Tuesday] didn't end with anyone hurt," he said.
He said the size of college campuses makes them the equivalent of small cities but that they are statistically safer.
He said the greatest challenge for community colleges is the open access, with a constant flow of people traveling on and off campus.
"I don't know how you can 100 percent prevent something like that from happening," Sam said.
"You would have to be a prison."
Yesterday, students at Germanna's Fredericksburg-area campus yesterday expressed little concern about safety.
Some were unaware of the shooting in Prince William. Others said they felt their campus had good security measures in place.
"The security guards are very much visible," said Jenny Lawrence, a 2009 Courtland High School graduate.
She also said she's aware of security cameras that keep an eye on activities.
Joanelle Tarara of Stafford said she was thinking about the incident as she came to campus yesterday but wasn't deterred from going to her classes.
She is signed up for the text-message alerts but admitted she didn't know what steps she should take if an emergency arose.
Sam said an important step for staff and administration is monitoring students who are having problems and intervening early on to try to help them.
His overall strategy is: "Plan for the worst and hope that it never happens."
--The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Pamela Gould: 540/735-1972
Email: pgould@freelancestar.com
