More cameras, stricter key card access, and more door locks all part of beefed up MSU security updates
Michigan State implements new security measures after mass shooting
Starting March 13, campus buildings will require key card access by current students, faculty and staff from 6 p.m. until 7:30 a.m. when doors will be locked. The university will also add to their more than 2,000 security cameras around East Lansing, boosting coverage in areas that need it.
EAST LANSING, Mich. (FOX 2) - Just over two weeks since the mass shooting shook Michigan State's campus, the university has announced new safety measures it plans to implement in the next few weeks.
Additional door locks, stricter key card access, and expanded security camera coverage are all on the list, as is mandatory active violent intruder training.
"I think generally yes. I already genuinely do feel pretty safe on campus," said Gabriel Wiechert, a freshman from Shelby Township.
The school also plans to seek an independent after-action evaluation of the shooting incident to see what worked and what didn't work.
Door locks are expected to be added to 1,300 classrooms on campus. Meanwhile, accessing buildings on campus will require more security protocols as students will need to use a key card to get into a building after 6 p.m. and before 7:30 a.m. - around the same time campus shuts down and wakes back up.
They're good fixes, Wiechert said, but he also sees a need for a greater response to violence on the scale seen in East Lansing on Feb. 13.
"I think it's great they're adding extra security stuff like the locks on the door, however as a society I think we should address some of the underlying issues like mental health," he said.
One international student wasn't as impressed with the fixes, saying greater reforms around guns are needed.
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"I don't think it's a good plan. It for sure works in some aspects but to me, I think more serious gun control can be more useful to react to this kind of tragedy," said Wan Wan, who is from China.
Just down the road in Lansing, more serious reforms were discussed during committee meetings in the state's capital Wednesday. Momentum behind enacting the bills ramped up following the MSU shooting, which left three people dead and five others seriously injured.
Bills dealing with universal background checks, safe storage, and red flag laws were all on the table in the afternoon of March 1.