In face of threat, DVC campus remains open

(Ethan Anderson/The Inquirer)

Officers from across the district were called to the Diablo Valley College campus on Thursday, December 13 in response to a graffiti threat.

Gavin Rock, Staff member
December 13, 2018

Threats in the form of graffiti were discovered in the restrooms of the humanities building as well as the library of Diablo Valley College Wednesday afternoon. A text sent out Wednesday evening through the schools EMERAlert labeled it as a ‘non-specific anonymous threat.’

Along with classification of the graffiti, the text stated “There will be a significant increase in police presence on campus,” and students will have the option to see a counselor in the coming week if they feel anxious.

However, some students had mixed opinions concerning the action. Cole Krieger, a computer science major, said he had seen the increase, but didn’t feel any safer.

“It makes me a little antsy, because, just, you know, everything is like, ‘ok, hey, we’re here to protect you, but we’re watching over everything you do’.”

Freshman Jocelyn Nelson, a student who said she experienced similar threats at her previous school, said she hadn’t even noticed extra police.

“I was actually sitting (in front of math) when I saw someone get apprehended by police, couple weeks ago, right over there.  I was, like, reporting, trying to figure out what was going on, just in case it was something bad that you see on the news.  But, other than that, I feel like I never see police around.”

In regards to the threats ‘non-specific’ designation, district Police Chief Ed Carney said though it spoke of classmates at DVC, it did not name students, or the perpetrator, who referred to himself as ‘Z.’

“When we speak to it being ‘non-specific’, (that means) we don’t have known individuals on either side,” said Carney. “It doesn’t even specify shooting. Yes, there’s a drawing of a handgun, so you can draw a conclusion as to what they’re speaking to, but if you read it closely it says ‘kill classmates’.”

According to campus police, the initial report was filed at 3:51 p.m., with the second report filed at 4:41 p.m. The graffiti was erased later that day, but not before an image of the writing had been posted on social media.

School officials insist they took the threat seriously, but also acknowledge that the time of year was a factor in their decision to keep campus open.

You tend to get a higher number of incidents during finals week because this is just the norm in colleges,” said President Susan Lamb. “But we also take every single (threat) seriously.”