3:30 p.m. UPDATE:
Finger Lakes Community College President Robert Nye issued this statement following Tuesday morning’s incident:
Dear FLCC Community,
This morning, we experienced an unfortunate incident involving a police search on our campus. The police successfully apprehended a suspect without any injuries and operations returned to normal within about an hour. We are grateful for quick action by the police to resolve this incident.
A student from FLCC was observed making threatening gestures with a knife off campus near the main entrance to the College. The individual was observed traveling south on Marvin Sands Drive and was reported to law enforcement. The individual rode a bicycle directly onto campus and entered the front entrance of campus.
An initial warning message was sent out, and when it was determined the individual was on our campus, in conjunction with our emergency procedures, the campus was immediately alerted to shelter in place. Campus Police and other law enforcement agencies secured entrances and coordinated the effort to search and detain the individual. The individual was apprehended on the fourth floor of the building near where he would have been taking classes. From the time we learned this individual entered our building to his apprehension was 32 minutes.
We are grateful for a faculty member and student who reported sighting someone fitting the description and for the rapid work conducted by campus police and surrounding law enforcement agencies to secure the area and apprehend the individual to make the campus safe again.
Incidents such as this one are unfortunate and may be troubling or traumatic to members of our community. For our students, we have exceptional counselors in our Center for Student Well Being who are available for assistance, along with our virtual health service, called TimelyCare, https://app.timelycare.com/auth/login. For faculty and staff who may wish to seek assistance, our Human Resources Office can provide assistance, and through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), www.theEAP.com/Higher-Education-EAP.
Additionally, sometimes it is equally or more important to know what to do when we see someone in need of assistance who is distraught. If you are concerned about an FLCC student, please use our online referral form: Put It On the RADAR. The report will be forwarded to our Student Intervention Team for follow-up. But in a case like today, in an emergency situation, please call 911.
As we have done in the past, we conduct periodic emergency exercises to prepare for such unfortunate incidents. We will continue to do so before the start of every semester to ensure we continue to do everything possible to keep our campus safe. In addition, in accordance with our emergency procedures, we will conduct an after-action review whereby individuals from the Emergency Operation Center will specifically review this incident. This will allow us to continue learning and determine ways to enhance safety improvements where warranted.
Again, I wish to thank those individuals who diligently observed and reported the individual’s presence on campus, and our Campus Police and supporting law enforcement agencies for their rapid response and helping to make sure our campus was returned to a safe state.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robert K. Nye
President
A shelter in place has been lifted at Finger Lakes Community College after police located a suspect who was involved in a menacing incident that occurred near the Hopewell campus Tuesday morning.
In a message to students, the college said the suspect apparently took off from the crime scene on a bicycle and was last seen riding towards campus while possibly in possession of a knife. The 40-year-old was taken into custody shortly before 11.
No injuries were reported.
This is a developing story. We will continue to update as more information is made available
