Yesterday we were faced with something new that we hope we never have to deal with again. Shortly after 1pm, a call was put in to the IUPUI campus police that a man carrying a long gun was spotted on campus near the garage where Karl parks. This alert put the campus and all of the surrounding buildings in lock down. This included Ally's day care, my office and Karl's office. Karl's office is located about a block north of where it was reported, Ally is about 3 blocks south and I am about 4 blocks south so it was much too close for comfort. We were alerted about the situation by our offices first and then received several updates from the day care to keep us informed. It was requested that everyone remain indoors at our offices but you could leave if you had to, just not enter until the "all clear" was given. Obviously the day care is technically always in lock down since you need a key card to access the building but it was still scary not knowing when we would be able to get into the building to get her. By 4:30 the situation was still the same and we could hear helicopters circling the campus. Shortly after, we received an update from the day care saying that they were going to let parents pick up kids but once you left the building there would be no re-entry. As soon as we got the word, I picked up Karl and we went to get her. Karl's car was in the garage where the man was spotted so it was stuck. As we were on our way we received word that the all clear was given so people starting pouring out of the campus buildings. We got Ally, Karl got his car and we all and headed home.
Nothing came of the situation but you just never know. The day care kept the kids unaware, they just closed all their shades and kept the kids indoors all afternoon. They had a campus police officer on site and 2 in cars nearby in the event that something did happen. We still don't know if there really was a gunman at all but I prefer that the campus take the actions they did to keep everyone as safe as possible. I think we were pleased with how the communication was handled for all 3 of us- people in my office are so busy with Final Four prep that no one really had time to think much about it. It was definitely unsettling and scary and speaks to a whole larger issue. Ally is too young to understand and didn't really ask any questions other than wanting to know why we both picked her up. We are very thankful this turned out to be nothing but it hit way too close to home for us.
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