UPEI defends the decision not to sound the alarm following the threat of a school shooting

UPEI is defending its decision not to issue an alert late last year after a student threatened to shoot up the school and set fire to buildings on campus.

On December 23, Nok Yi Hui posted threats on Instagram.

She pleaded guilty earlier this month. The court heard Hui was struggling with isolation, was new to Canada and was drinking at the time.

Her lawyer said she was “remorseful, ashamed and regretful” of her actions.

Hui was given a conditional discharge and must undergo counseling, stay away from UPEI and write a letter of apology. She is no longer a student of this university.

Judge Jeff Lantz described it as a serious threat that could upset anyone on campus. He said this is even more disturbing given recent shootings at American universities.

No threat warning was issued

Despite the threat, UPEI did not issue a warning. This is about the university’s faculty association.

A woman in a black top and a colorful scarf stands in a university corridor. — Margot Rejskind, executive director of the UPEI Faculty Association, claims that she only learned about the incident from the media. (Laura Meader/CBC)

Margot Rejskind, executive director of the association, said she only learned about the incident from the media.

“There’s no doubt there was a serious incident on campus,” Rejskind told CBC News.

“There was a threat to people on campus and no one seemed to be told that this was happening or that they should take steps to ensure their own safety, which is also concerning.”

However, university authorities said that police were immediately contacted, patrols on campus were increased and buildings were also closed.

We must strike the right balance between keeping members of our campus community safe, but also preventing panic.—Nicole Phillips, UPEI communications director

Nicole Phillips, UPEI’s director of communications, said the university decided an emergency declaration was not necessary given how quickly the arrest occurred and how few people were on campus when the threat occurred.

A woman in a blue coat and red striped blouse smiles at the camera on a college campus with trees and brick buildings behind her. — Nicole Phillips, UPEI’s director of communications, says the university has decided an alert is not necessary. (Wayne Thibodeau/CBC)

“We must strike the right balance between keeping members of the campus community safe while also preventing panic,” Phillips said.

“It was such a short period of time that we didn’t really need to worry anyone at that point, we took the necessary steps to secure the campus, but we didn’t need to raise the alarm bells any further because it was completed in one day, less than a day.”

Scott Gosse, UPEI’s security manager, said the university also worked closely with Charlottetown police after receiving the threat.

“This particular incident occurred on December 23, which was during the holiday season, and most of the campus community was not on site,” Gosse said.

“In such a case, we would rely heavily on communication with Charlottetown Municipal Police to conduct a risk assessment to determine whether messaging is required or not, but in this particular case it was deemed not necessary,” Gosse said.

A man in a black coat stands in the middle of a university campus. — Scott Gosse, UPEI’s security manager, says the university works closely with Charlottetown police when such threats arise. (Wayne Thibodeau/CBC)

Rejskind said students were still at home, Atlantic Veterinary College would be fully staffed and some instructors would still be in their offices grading papers and finishing the semester.

“Their responsibility to maintain the safety and security of people on campus is not diminished because of the number of people,” she said.

“We shouldn’t have a full campus to expect them to take good care of us, so to some extent I find it a little insulting.”

A policeman wearing a blue apron stands in front of the police station on a sunny day. — Det.-Sgt. Darren MacDougall of the Charlottetown Police Department says “there are a number of different criteria we look at to determine whether we will immediately issue this type of alert.” (Wayne Thibodeau/CBC)

Charlottetown police, however, said they supported the university’s decision not to declare a state of emergency.

“The threat itself was that the event would happen the next day, there would be a shooting, and in five days… some buildings would be burned down,” said Sgt. Charlottetown Police. Darren MacDougall.

“That’s not to suggest that you have time at your disposal – you respond immediately – but there are a number of different criteria that we take into account to determine whether we’re going to issue this type of warning right away.”

UPEI officials said the university’s emergency operations team convened after the incident.

The panel concluded that appropriate action had been taken and recommended no changes to policy or protocol.