Report: UT Austin Shooter Response Commended, Improvements Still Needed
AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin Police Department responded effectively to an incident in which a student fired 11 shots from an AK-47 on campus before committing suicide last year, according to a new report.
Colton J. Tooley killed himself in a campus library in September, but did not fire at other students or staff, according an active shooter/suicide after action report released by the University of Texas at Austin Police Department (UTPD).
The report lists the emergency plans that functioned well on the day of the incident, including the incident command system, multi-agency response and emergency communication.
Command communication proved to be a challenge, because not everyone received the message to switch to the selected channel and UTPD could not monitor or transmit on the channel selected.
The report makes multiple recommendations for each part of the response, including the establishment of an indoor rehabilitation location stocked with water, the re-evaluation of specific job duties associated with emergency response and improved coordination between the UTPD and the Austin police department.
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