WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - When law enforcement swarmed the UNCW campus on Thursday night after reports of a man with a gun on university grounds, UNCW Chancellor Aswani Volety found out about the threat along with students and staff.
“Chancellor finds out along with everybody else because I don’t want to be a bottleneck in terms of expediency,” Chancellor Volety said. Typically when a threat comes into the police department or any place else, it quickly gets community to the university police department."
Volety was at an event on campus along with his wife. They both sheltered in place along with students. He admits it was a frightening ordeal.
“It is unsettling for sure. But I also have profound confidence in our university police department as well as local, state, and federal officers that we work with. Of course, who wouldn’t be unsettled or afraid when the siren goes off and the announcement says shelter in place--go into a building and shelter in place,” Volety recalled.
His two daughters learned of the lockdown and immediately reached out in fear.
“I told them we were fine but to stop texting.”
Volety said he had work to do and knew replying to text messages would take away from the job he had as the chancellor.
Students and parents expressed concern about the university’s updates during the lockdowns. Volety says he understands the worries but also knows that asking law enforcement for updates during the lockdown would hinder their work.
“We could say ‘still the same.’ Perhaps we could have done that, but asking the law enforcement officers ‘what’s going on, what’s going on’ would only impede the work that they are doing. So that’s why I ask people for their grace.”
Hundreds of law enforcement officers combed through the campus. After about a three-hour search, the all-clear was given and the threat was classified as a false alarm.
WECT’s Frances Wellers spoke extensively with Chancellor Volety about the lockdown.
You can view the full interview below:
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