Just a week ago, University of California Berkeley sophomore Chelsea Evans headed to UCLA to meet her boyfriend. But even before she could meet him at his residence hall, UCLA security ushered her into lockdown on the first floor of the building.

As a result of her reunion with her boyfriend, she was held at a supply room surrounded by strangers. Only to know, a gunman has intruded the campus, Daily California News reported.

Evans together with seven other UCLA students was confined at that room for hours. There were four shooters and that they headed to the hill where the residence hall was located. Luckily, students around Evans were alarmed with three separate Bruin Alerts advising them not to go outside until the 12:17 pm final alert informed them, "all clear." When the lockdown ended, Evans encountered a large group of police officers that had responded to the shooting.

Since the 1999 Columbine shootings, several universities have implemented training programs to handle active shooter situations, according to the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators President William Taylor.

Spokesperson Sgt. Sabrina Reich's official UCPD email said that Berkeley UCPD officers have been training annually for active shooter situations since 2000.

UCPD regularly gives training to campus faculty, staff and students, which campus departments can request for their members, UCPD Lt. Marc DeCoulode said. He added that he was unaware of any least training standards for non-police personnel on campus.

However, Evans still feels in doubt about campus security and she uttered concern about how easy it is for anyone to go through campus buildings and facilities. Tre'Shunn Harlan, a UC Berkeley senior, who watched the incident disclose on a laptop in a friend's apartment just across the street from UCLA, escorted his friend to the campus when the lockdown ended. As they passed through the grieving campus, Harlan saw students sobbing and crying on street curbs. He had painstaking saw UCLA as the most beautiful campus he had ever visited. Alas, on that day and in the most unfortunate of events, the whole impression had changed, DCN added.

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Tags University of California Berkeley