‘Shaken’: Some U of M students concerned about communication after knife incident

No one was injured during an incident at the University of Manitoba Tuesday morning, but some students and staff have been critical of the way they were notified about the potentially dangerous situation.

Winnipeg police searched the Allen Building, on the U of M campus, after reports of a man wielding a knife. Despite the presence of numerous officers as well as K9 and tactical units, the man wasn’t found — but police gave the all-clear later in the day, saying the building, and the rest of the campus, was safe.

Second-year student Angeline Redecopp told 680 CJOB’s The Start she went to school like any other day, but when she saw cop cars and police tape, she knew it wasn’t going to be a routine day of classes.

“I’m still a bit shaken — it was a hard night to sleep on after all of that,” Redecopp said, “and I’m not too excited to go back for my five hours today.”

Although Redecopp said she was one of the people on campus who did receive an alert about a dangerous person, advising students and staff to stay put and lock their doors, many others didn’t, including her professor.

“Sitting through that class, I could not focus. I found myself constantly staring at the door. I was the closest student to the door, and with it being wide open, I was sitting there wondering if the next person coming in was going to be the armed man.

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“I got an email saying that if we’re on campus we need to stay put and lock the doors … so I raised my hand and let my prof know.”

Redecopp said she hopes the administration will handle situations like this better in the future, especially as this incident is just the latest in a string of concerning occurrences on campus — with an armed robbery and a sexual assault taking place only days apart in late October.

“I feel quite betrayed by the university … how well they promote our safety there, and we’ve had two past occurrences. This is the third occurrence this semester.

“With each incident, I feel like as if it’s being brushed away.”

Police said Tuesday that the knife incident remains under investigation and has been taken over by the major crimes unit.

Const. Claude Chancy said an alert was sent out to phones, radio and TV — the third time that system has been used — but there have been numerous reports of students and staff only hearing an announcement on a PA system, or receiving an email well after the fact.

Those who did receive an alert say it didn’t come until around 9:30 a.m. — three hours after police arrived at the scene.

U of M security director Gordon Perrier said Tuesday that the right call was made.

“There was clear communication in the beginning to wait for further details,” Perrier said.

“Sometimes those further details aren’t immediate, and I think everybody wants immediate details, so I recognize that gap … but sometimes that information isn’t readily available.

“What was most important in this instance was securing that location, and ensuring that emergency services were well supported in the work they were charged to undertake.”

Global News has reached out to university administrators for more information.

3:52 University of Manitoba: Man armed with ‘big knife’ not found yet, police say

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