EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Safety is on the minds of students on the campus of East Stroudsburg University after a mass shooting Monday night at Michigan State University.
Three students died, and five others were injured.
"My friends and I, we all stick together so this way we keep each other safe, and we don't have to worry about anything too bad happening, hopefully. Crossing fingers, but it is a little concerning," said freshman Gina Mainella.
"I paid attention to a little bit of what happened. I talked about it with a couple of friends of mine, and I believe ESU definitely takes safety into priority, no matter what happens, definitely will prioritize safety over everything," said senior Jushawn McSween.
William Parrish is the chief of police on campus and says shootings like Michigan reinforce the need to continue assessing how prepared ESU is.
"There's no one set scenario. So anytime there's an incident like Michigan State, Uvalde, anything like that, you try to understand how they responded, why they responded, and try to learn from any mistakes that may have happened," said Parrish.
When it comes to safety on campus, ESU Police are constantly training for active shooter situations to keep everyone on campus safe.
"With practice comes some comfort in working together, operating together, the language we use when we're moving throughout a building. So, anything that we can do to be as prepared as possible for, or react quickly to, in order to keep our students, faculty and staff, and the community safe is a win for everyone," Parrish said.
Although officers constantly plan and train for events like this, they hope they never have to experience it.
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