Shooting at the Hospital

 

A sniper at the scene on Thursday. (@justin_fenton)

Around 11:10 a.m. a son of a patient at Johns Hopkins Hospital shot Dr. David B. Cohen in the abdomen. Soon after, the Hospital was under lock-down and all people affiliated with the Hospital and the Medical institution were notified. Praise should be given to the Hospital for its swift action to keep its students, faculty, and staff safe. 

However, two hours passed before undergraduates and people on the Homewood campus were notified. In an e-mail timestamped at 1:10 p.m., Dennis O'Shea, Executive Director of  Communications and Public Affairs, informed the Homewood campus of the shooting. He described it as a "police situation," telling students to avoid going to the medical campus and to check with instructors about attendance. Two internet links were given for students to receive updates. Seventeen minutes later, O'Shea sent a follow-up email correcting one of those links.

It seems odd that the University would let the people on the Homewood Campus aware of the situation almost two hours after the incident and after the people at the Hospital were notified. Many students work at the Hospital, taking courses or working on research. In our opinion, two hours seems too long of a delay to notify Homewood. Students who may not be on the Hospital's emergency text message or e-mail list may have unknowingly gone down.

What are your thoughts? Do you think the University let everyone know in a timely manner about the situation? Does it matter when Homewood was notified?