UIndy plans security upgrades after homicide on campus
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The University of Indianapolis plans major security upgrades after Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department says a homicide happened Tuesday night on campus.
UIndy’s president said in an email that the university will hire four more police officers, put plainclothes officers on its campus borders, install high-definition security cameras, and expedite the installation of two more emergency call boxes.
Robert L. Manuel, UIndy president, said the changes he expects the changes to be made within 30 days.
Manual also wrote in a late Wednesday email to people on campus, “Over the past three months, our community has experienced a lot to shake our confidence in the safety of our campus. We live in an urban environment that has seen an increase in crime, and we are not immune to those problems. For the last few months, I have been working with my senior leaders to understand how our campus should respond to these realities. It is clear that we must move to action now.”
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and UIndy police were called about 9:45 p.m. Tuesday to a parking lot outside Cory Bretz Hall, a residence hall in at 1236 Campus Drive. Officers found Dazmond Morgan, 26, suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken in critical condition to Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital, where he later died. UIndy says Morgan was not affiliated with the university.
Many on campus expressed disbelief that a watchdog text alert was not sent to people on campus immediately upon learning of the shooting.
The president said in a late Wednesday morning email to the campus, “At the time the incident happened, it was not clear what had occurred as the first call to 911 came in as an overdose, so there was an investigation that had to be done. After UIndy Police and IMPD responded, the individual was transported to the hospital and it was determined that there was no ongoing danger to campus. IMPD was just beginning their investigation and we were waiting to receive details of the incident from IMPD investigators. The official report was not filed by IMPD until after 3am and once we confirmed all the information we were able to send out a campus message.”
UIndy says IMPD and the university police are investigating the homicide.
