By Angela White
Trinity Times Correspondent
The April 13, 2023, alert of an active shooter report at the Trinity Washington University campus may have been a false alarm, but the fear it aroused among the students and faculty was very real and many of them want their elected officials to address gun violence.
Known as “swatting,” Trinity was just one of several U.S. colleges, including neighboring Catholic University of America, to be the target of a false call made to a police department claiming there was an active shooter on campus that April morning, and in the days before and after.
Though no such shooters were actually on these campuses and the threat was averted when police did a sweep of the universities, it made the horror of mass shootings at other schools very real to the Trinity community and the calls for action are growing louder.
“What happens if there is (another report of an active shooter) and it’s real,” said Ashley Simmons, a junior at Trinity, who said she still feels shaken by the April 13 campus lockdown regarding the false shooter report. “Having to constantly stay on high alert is giving me anxiety. I am supposed to be focusing on my studies, not if I will be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Gun violence has been embedded into American society, making it impossible to ignore the impact on communities and victims, said Trinity’s President Patricia McGuire, who has publicly called on elected officials at the local, state, and national level to take action regulating guns and banning assault weapons to help reduce the growing number of gun-related deaths in the U.S.
As of May 1, there have been 185 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2023, according to data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive – a non-profit organization tracking gun violence cases.
That’s more mass shootings than the number of days in 2023 up to that point.
“It seems like anyone can get a gun no matter the age, and that is a major part of the issue,” said Cheryl Johnson, a senior at Trinity, who says she fears for the safety of her family as everyday gun violence happens around the country and within her community.
Elected officials are not doing enough to combat gun violence, Johnson told Trinity Times, and believes this is an issue that should motivate voters of every political persuasion.
President Joe Biden signed into law a compromise bill on gun safety passed by Congress in 2022, but the new measure doesn’t ban assault weapons.
When that bill was signed, Biden acknowledged the law doesn’t go far enough and said he was urging lawmakers to craft stronger legislation in the future.
“Ultimately, we must be on the front lines of insisting that this society find a way to reduce the violence and increase the opportunities to enjoy the kind of ‘life, liberty and happiness’ that we all have a right to experience,” McGuire wrote in her blog following the April “swatting” incident at Trinity.
McGuire expressed her gratitude to the Trinity students, faculty and staff who are actively engaged in advocacy to promote an end to gun violence.
The Trinity community came together in February to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Feb. 14, 2018, mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, an event that came on the heels of the mass shooting at Michigan State University Feb. 13, 2023.
Students joined faculty and anti-gun violence activists to call on citizens to make this issue one they vote on in every election until action is taken.
“Swatting” too has become a concern at many U.S. colleges and universities, as the volume of these calls continue to grow across the country.
The FBI has not released an estimate of how many schools have been impacted by these threats, however they are currently working with multiple agencies to investigate the increase in hoax active shooter calls.
“Swatting” creates fear on campuses and puts innocent people at risk, police officials said.
The term “swatting” is used for these fake calls, because “SWAT teams” of armed police respond to active shooter reports.
Law enforcement officials warn that “swatting” hoax calls can put campus communities in jeopardy as armed police sweep through school grounds and buildings anticipating danger.
“I know that getting an alert about a lockdown is upsetting — all of us share that feeling,” McGuire said.”Emotional terror is another weapon of a violent society.”Trinity’s Emergency Alert System gives instructions on what to do if an incident arises. To subscribe to Trinity’s Emergency Communication, text “trinitydcalerts” to “866-925-2949.”