By: Michael Watts II
As America grieves over the recent deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, more tragedy hits, with the shooting spree in downtown Dallas. All El Centro College campuses were being shut down on Friday for safety measures.
Before the shooting started, 20 afternoon classes were getting ready to end and four other classes were scheduled to end at 9 p.m.
During the shooting, doors at the main campus were locked at 8 p.m., as a precautionary measure in preparation for the protest scheduled near the college. The doors being locked was not an emergency lockdown when the shooting began.
Five El Centro College officers were on duty when the shooting occurred and they are now helping the Dallas Police Department with their investigation concerning the shooting.
Two employees at the El Centro College Wellness Center were lock down there for safety measures. The center is located on the top two floors of the former Texas Club Building, which the college leases. The parking garage associated with the shooting is owned by Bank of America.
After the shooting ended, students and employees that were on lockdown were escorted to the Dallas Police Department Headquarters after midnight. The two employees that were lockdown in the wellness center were able to leave the police department at 3 in the morning.
As of right now, El Centro College locations like 701 Elm St, Paramount Building and the main campus will be closed until the Dallas Police Department releases the buildings back to the college. Other locations like El Centro’s West campus and the Bill J. Priest Institute will be open this weekend.
El Centro College has decided, in order to maintain security, all El Centro students and employees are required to wear laminated identification cards on campus at all times. All security staff members are stationed at entrances to the buildings main campus to check Id’s and community members and visitors are asked to sign in when they enter the building.
According to El Centro, no students or faculty members were injured during the shooting.
