He walked into the actuarial science class with no intention of sitting through it and every intention of making it the last class of his life.

As he pulled out his semi-automatic weapon, he showed he had every intention of making it everyone else’s last class as well.

He pulled the trigger, waving the gun around the room.

Jammed.

He slammed the clip of the gun on a desk, and again pulled the trigger.

Jammed again.

As he attempted to slam the clip for a second time, a desk came sliding his way and knocked him into the chalkboard, providing time for the rest of the room to clear out.

This isn’t the story of the gunman from Virginia Tech or Northern Illinois University.

This is the story of the attempted shooting at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on Oct. 13, 1992.

This story repeated itself in September at the University of Texas at Austin and Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, only with different outcomes.

University shootings have happened before, but every time they happen campuses across the nation become more sensitive to them and wonder if they could have been prevented.

UNL officials say the university is prepared for an event and is also active in prevention of such an event.

UNL’s first and only experience with school shootings was that day in 1992.

Since then, the university has prepared itself for a similar event.

“Had that firearm not jammed, we would have been Virginia Tech a good 15 years before Virginia Tech,” said Robert Portnoy, director of UNL’s Counseling and Psychological Services.

BREAKING POINT

Portnoy said this incident prompted the creation of a trauma response team and eventually  the campus’ Threat Assessment Partnership.

This is a coalition among the campus police force, counseling and psychological services, the dean of students and other campus organizations, aimed at reaching out to those people who exhibit signs of becoming a threat to themselves or others.

“If someone has been identified by a friend, for example, or a faculty member as really struggling, there will be an effort to reach out to this individual and encourage them to seek treatment,” Portnoy said.

Signs that someone may be at risk to become a shooter are similar to those you would find in someone who is becoming depressed.

Students who are withdrawing, uncharacteristically using alcohol and drugs or behaving erratically may be at risk.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that somebody is about to go on some kind of shooting rampage,” Portnoy said.

“It means that their resources are starting to become overwhelmed, their ability to cope, and as a consequence, they need some help. But a very, very small percent of those folks actually become violent.”

Portnoy believes many instances of campus violence can be prevented with proper mental health treatment, and the responsibility is on students and faculty in order to help make UNL a community that helps those in need find that treatment.

This is one of the reasons he emphasizes that UNL is a community that takes care of each other.

He also said he and his colleagues are drafting a University Mental Health Emergency Plan and are in the meeting stages of planning.

Even with all of the planning and time spent on prevention, it is still possible that a shooting could happen at UNL, he said.

“We’ve been very fortunate here at UNL not to have such a horrendous incident even though … we came very close,” Portnoy said.

“But all the planning in the world can’t absolutely protect us.”

FOLLOWING FOOTSTEPS

Sometimes, after a school shooting there are “copycat” shootings, or similar shootings that follow the original event.

Portnoy said when at-risk individuals hear of these incidents, whether it be suicide or shootings, they may be inclined to behave similarly.

“Some of it is just – this sounds simplistic – but just copycat, if you will,” Portnoy said.

“People decide that getting their name out there, even in these horrendous circumstances, is somehow desirable.”

Portnoy said he believes copycat behavior accounts for only a relatively small percentage of shootings that follow another shooting.

He said sometimes individuals have a sense that the fabric of society is falling apart after a campus shooting.

It isn’t, he said, but that perception exists.

As a result, a person may abandon their moral restraint and act in an extreme, violent way.

This contagion effect of extreme acts has been curbed by media down-playing the actual act itself and focusing on the life of the people who committed them.

Portnoy pointed out the first major incident the media took this approach with was Kurt Cobain’s suicide.

“They did not glorify his death, they glorified his life, but they were very clear in all the stories that they did, that this was a product of his depression, not who he was as a person,” he said.

“And as a consequence, the contagion effect was quite a bit smaller than what would have predicted otherwise.”

NEW TEXT MESSAGE: ALERT

The UNL emergency planning committee has prepared extensively for potential active shooter situations on campus, said Kelly Bartling, manager of news for University Communications.

When campus shootings happen around the nation, the committee meets to discuss what was handled well and what could’ve been handled differently.

It gives the committee an opportunity to think about what would have happened under similar circumstances at UNL.

Bartling said one of the most useful tools the campus has is UNL Alert.

It is the primary message-delivery system on campus.

This emergency alert system sends messages to students and faculty through cell phones, landlines, fax-machines and e-mail.

It even allows students to select which alerts are most convenient for them.

A similar alert system was used by the University of Texas at Austin during last month’s shooting.

Lydia Schendel, a freshman journalism major at UT, was in class at the time of the shooting and said the alert system was quick and helpful in confirming that the shooting was really happening.

“The first thing that happened, at about 8:15, was four students ran in from outside and one of them said they heard gunshots,” Schendel said.

“But it wasn’t really verified until we got the text messages that came out from the school. That was really the first believable notification of what was going on.”

Further alerts directed students not to leave class or their dorm rooms and gave further safety tips.

UNL’s alert system is very similar to UT’s in its abilities to communicate with students quickly, as well as requiring students sign up to receive alerts.

For this reason, Bartling encouraged students to sign up for alerts at http://emergency.unl.edu.

This is especially important for new students who may be unaware of the alert system and may be confused about what to do when an emergency happens.

The website also has tips on what to do in active shooter instances and a video called “Shots Fired” with information on what students and faculty should do.

“People may not think about what they would do right now if a shooter walked in to their office or their classroom,” Bartling said.

“But it’s important to get people to think about what they would do. Would they run and hide? Would they try to take aggressive action towards the shooter and knock him or her down?”

Bartling said students and faculty must play an important role in preventing these types of situations before they occur, acting as the eyes of the police.

“You cannot have a gun on this campus,” Bartling said.

“So if there’s ever a time where someone sees someone with a gun, that information needs to be immediately reported to police and police need to immediately send an alert letting people know what to look for, where, what time and what to do.”