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Man banned from campus
BY SARA JOCHEMS
STATESMAN STAFF WRITER
iISSUE: 78/23
Photo courtesrtesy of St. Louis County Sheriff’s
office, St. Louis County Jail
After the Montague 70 incident that occurred on Feb. 20, the intruder, Shawn Patrick Fredrick, has been permanently banned from the university premise. Lt. Anne Peterson of university police, clarified actions her department made with regards to the Montague 70 incident. “On Tuesday, Feb. 19, a male staff member called the university and made a complaint of Fredrick being seen on campus and that he looked suspicious,” Peterson said. “From there we [university police] were looking for him.”
Peterson went on to explain that early Wednesday morning, Fredrick himself called 911 saying that there was an incident on Sixth Avenue and East Fourth Street. “From what we were told, a city of Duluth squad car responded and took care of that incident,” Peterson said. “Roughly an hour later, we got a phone call about a situation down in Montague 70.”
Peterson explained that when they got the call, they were told that he was not armed, and stressed that that doesn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous. “Anything can be considered a weapon: the chair you are sitting in, a pen, your foot, etc.,” Peterson said. “When I read that he was ‘tapping his whip on a desk,’ I was surprised because I did not know.”
Because of this situation, Fredrick is completely banned from the university premises. “If he is seen walking into the school store to buy a pop or a sweatshirt, or even change buses outside of the Kirby Student Center, 911 should be notified immediately,” she said.
Peterson also commented after they received the phone call of a suspicious man in Montague 70 and got to the scene, they immediately had the situation contained and in control. “It’s difficult to gage every situation and their peculiarities, but because of how quickly the situation was handled, the text message didn’t seem to make sense,” Peterson said. “It was necessary for everyone to know what had happened, so that was why the e-mail was sent out that afternoon.”
Peterson elaborated on why the emergency text message was not sent out by the university. “The emergency text message is carefully [used] in limited situations,” Peterson said. “For example if there was an active shooter on campus or someone with potentially harmful chemicals,” she said. Because of this, Peterson further stressed the importance of safety within the university. “In the Montague incident for example, if you are too scared to call 911, text someone who is outside from where you are and have them call 911,”
Peterson said. “Depending on what type of phone you have, as soon as you put a call in, your phone is on an open line. This means that 911 dispatch can track where your phone call is coming from.” Peterson wanted to let students know that if they feel at all unsafe that they need to call 911 and get set up with the emergency text message system. “That’s got to be the way to go,” Peterson said.
