By Skyler Mitchell |Staff writer On Fri., Feb. 9, a shooting occurred at the Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home, resulting in the death of Jaz-Na O. Timmons. Her husband, Richard Timmons Jr. was captured in Texas on Feb. 15 and will be brought back to Georgia to face trial.When the shooting happened, Augusta University only knew that a shooting had happened at one of their locations. In response, the university sent out alerts to students and staff on both campuses warning of a possible active school shooting situation. With 2018 having around 18 school shootings so far, this was an alarming message to receive.However, how fast were the students warned when the attack happened? How many students learned about the attack back when it was considered an active shooting situation?Augusta University, of course, wants to keep students informed and safe about possible threats on campus and has several ways of notifying students. One, they will send a text alert to all students warning them of the situation and what had happened. Two, they send an automated message to the students in the form of a phone call for the same purpose. And finally, the university sends a mass email to everyone’s school email.The methods applied by the warning system are sound, but several problems need to be addressed.For the messages and phone calls to students, there are several problems with relying on that form of messaging. There are multiple areas on the Summerville Campus where cellphone service can be spotty, leading to missed calls and messages being missed. There is also the factor that students, if they choose, can unsubscribe from the text alerts at any time, meaning some students may remain uninformed.David Peltier, a student who was home on the day the shooting happened mentioned that he knew of friends that never received any notification about the shooting.“Some of my friends on Facebook said they hadn’t received any messages from the school," Peltier said.Peltier did praise the school for its thorough methods, he does say that the school should try to get all the students and faculty on their call list to make sure it reaches everyone.A person who screens their calls could also decide not to answer an unfamiliar number, sending it straight to voicemails instead. These messages and phone calls also don’t take into account that people turn off their phones for their classes, especially if a teacher has a strict policy on them. With their phones off, they would fail to receive any warning unless they had their email open at the time.Some students, like this one student who wished to remain anonymous, faced this particular problem.“I was in class when I received when I got the alert, and I learned about after I checked my phone after class.” The student said when asked about how she learned of the incident.While they did learn about the incident quickly, they weren’t able to learn about it immediately because they were following their class rules. It isn’t the fault of the teacher for creating this rule of not using phones during class nor is it the fault of the warning system, but they still received the warning later than most would consider appropriate.While emailing the students and staff may seem like a solid plan, there are still some present dangers with relying on it. While there are several computer labs on both campuses, not every student is near a computer. The emails can be sent to the students, they might not see it until they get home.Another student, who also wishes to remain anonymous, did receive the emails but was also unable to check their phone. “I didn’t check my phone because I was in class, but some of the other students did. The kept cutting off the teacher to tell everyone else what was happening.” The student also received the updates on the situation and made sure to be well informed as it progressed. They too praise the school on their quick response time but says that he wishes for there the PA system or something similar to be used if it happens again.There is an app for Outlook that lets people sign in to their email on their phone, but that still faces the issues mentioned in the phone calls and text messages.While the effort of the university to warn students of impending dangers is appreciated, there are still problems with the overall execution. Even if the shooting was, as Dr. Brooks A. Keel called it in his mass email to the entire university, “a domestic violence targeted attack,” there is still a danger here.Overall, students are pleased with how the university promptly responded to the situation and kept everyone updated afterward. Peltier even says that he considers Augusta University as the safest campus in Georgia, telling his friends even called one another to check if they were all right. However, if something like this happens again, they do urge the faculty to go just a little farther to make sure their message gets across to everyone.