Note: Updates of the meeting, including a statement from Dr. Tim Pierson, an interview with Longwood student Ashtyn Clark and Longwood University Police Department resources, are available here. 

A meeting was held Wednesday at Longwood University to address safety concerns voiced by students and community members following an incident Jan. 27 in which a man was reported carrying a gun at Longwood Village, an off-campus student housing community located off South Main Street approximately 1.5 miles from the main campus, behind Sheetz.

The incident was addressed to students in an alert the next evening, Jan. 28. Longwood panel members said the investigation and protocol by police as well as the suspect, Malcolm Deon Leviege who was away from Longwood Village when police responded, determined when the alert was sent and that the situation, according to police, was not considered an immediate or imminent threat.

Administration and students discussed the issues and solutions during the nearly two-and-a-half hour meeting.

The majority of students who spoke, which included residents of Longwood Village, described feeling that the delay in communication prevented them from taking the steps needed to ensure their own safety as well as that of roommates/friends. Students reported feeling increasingly unsafe on campus or at their student housing and contended that the response from administration during and after the incident did not adequately address the situation.

The panel that spoke included Longwood Student Government Association (SGA) President Joshua Darst, Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Tim Pierson, Longwood University Police Department Chief Col. Bob Beach, Assistant Vice President of Communications Matt McWilliams and Associate Dean of Conduct & Integrity Jen Fraley.

Suspect

The suspect identified as the person of interest, Malcolm Deon Leviege, was reported to be seeking an individual at Longwood Village and had a weapon. McWilliams said the police have not yet identified the weapon carried by Leviege Jan. 27. Leviege was cited by Beach as having been involved in more than one incident, including being involved with a domestic incident in November.

Leviege, who was arrested in Prince William County, was released on bond. He will be heard at the Prince Edward County General District Court and the date of his first hearing is scheduled for Feb. 26. Beach said Leviege is banned from entering any and all Longwood University property. Leviege’s hearings are based on charges of assault and battery and point/brandishing a firearm 3+ offense.

Background

The Longwood SGA sponsored the event, meant to give students and administration a chance to talk about what occurred and what could be done differently in the future.

“At the end of the day, this conversation is only as good as the steps after it,” Darst said during the meeting.

There were two microphones at either side of Blackwell Hall, where students and community members lined up to speak.

Some speakers, including students who live at Longwood Village, said they were not aware of anything happening until the Monday alert. Students worried about their roommates or friends walking home and coming into the path of the suspect and his weapon. While no one was hurt, students contended that there could be a future incident where that is not the case. Students reported receiving alerts from Longwood during the night of a shooting at 1532 Cumberland Road Feb. 4 that resulted in the death of Virginia State Police Trooper, Lucas Dowell and Corey Johnson of Cumberland. Students asked why that could not have been the case for the Jan. 27 incident.

In response to concerns about the alert, McWilliams said the alert was a result of the police’s aggressive investigation.

“What I would say about this particular incident is that police responded quickly and quickly determined that there was no imminent threat to campus safety at that point,” McWilliams said. “We quickly knew some very fundamental facts: he left. He was looking for one person, and he was headed out of town. So that’s why it didn’t trigger campus alert, because it didn’t trigger an imminent threat to campus safety.”

Assistant Director of Leadership Development and Programs Laura Parker spoke.

Parker asked what determined the university’s alert policies. She said she received two alerts of men with guns on campus when she worked for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

“It did not cause a panic on campus, but it did let the students know that the administration had their best interests in mind,” Parker said.

One student asked whether there were security cameras at Longwood Village. Beach said there are currently no video or surveillance cameras at Longwood Village, citing that lack of funding played a role in that development. When asked about budget allocations of other aspects on campus, such as construction or renovation of buildings, Pierson said much of the capital funding is provided by the state with specific instructions.

Funding for items such as surveillance cameras comes from funding of student tuition. Pierson said a small percentage goes to campus security and cited that a small percentage also goes to other aspects of campus such as recreation.

When asked whether people could fundraise for surveillance camera funds, Beach said they could.

McWilliams and Pierson said the majority of funds, estimated between 75-80 percent, allocate payment of personnel such as faculty and staff.

Student and SGA representative Chyanne Correa spoke about the Jan. 27 incident and said her friend was working at the front desk of Longwood Village that day. A friend comforted Correa as she wiped away tears.

“What are we going to do to make sure he doesn’t come back?” Correa said about the suspect. “When is it going to be too late, and then we start putting in the active shooter protocols?”

Correa asked about students receiving training for these emergency situations, in addition to staff.

McWilliams said police undergo constant training, active shooting training, and training for those on the communication end.

“We can always get better at our jobs,” McWilliams said. “We understand your concerns and are taking them to heart. We will try to do better on the communication side of things.”

While students commented on the response to the Jan. 27 incident, they spoke about other instances on campus that caused students to feel unsafe.

A number of students addressed white supremacy flyers and literature found on Midtown Landings and outside Ruffner Hall in the past year. Beach said a perpetrator was found after an investigation, was found to be a student and was removed from the university.

“Being a minority here on this campus, I haven’t felt safe in the past few years,” Cecil Hayes, a student and SGA senator, said.

He asked for concrete and visible changes to take place for campus safety and communication.

Students who reported incidents to campus said they did not feel heard after speaking with administration, and said the response was administration telling students what to feel or not rather than seeking to understand how they did feel and respond accordingly.

Beach said his response in those situations was not meant to dismiss student concern. He said he meant to instill confidence that police would respond to their fullest extent.

From the university

McWilliams provided a statement from the university to the Herald detailing the case and the university’s response.

“Situations like that are often complex, and Longwood staff and administrators strive to make the right communication decisions,” McWilliams said. “That’s why we follow the law enforcement best practice of issuing emergency alerts only when there is a verifiable and ongoing threat. In this instance, police were and remain fully confident that was not the case.”

The release cited that the photo of the suspect on social media heightened concerns.

“We know that trust and clear communication are an essential part of what keeps Longwood overall a very safe environment. In future such incidents we will try to be more attentive to the importance of providing follow-up information. We cannot always share all the information about which our community is curious, but we absolutely are listening to the concerns students have raised and, as always, working to improve.”

For the complete statement, visit www.FarmvilleHerald.com.

Seeking solutions

Panel speakers said the response by police was “by the book.” They acknowledged, however that there were aspects they may have missed the mark on this incident.

“Where I think we missed the mark, we fell short on what you needed in the aftermath, was we needed to be better at sharing details of things that we had done and actions that we were taking, liked increased police patrols of Longwood Village, to make you feel more secure,” McWilliams said.

“We will do better going forward,” McWilliams said. “I acknowledge that we didn’t get it right.”

“The failure, and what we have come here to tell you that we understand was the failure, was a more timely set of information of an event that occurred, but was controlled and taken care of, and that information could have been given to you in a way that would have maybe intercepted some of the fear and the speculation that started to boil up over the past 48 hours or so,” Beach said.

One student, whose father is an ex-police officer, thanked law enforcement and asked what students can do to help.

Beach asked that students approach him or police with any concerns, to foster a policy of “seeing something, saying something.”

“It’s more real when it hits your door,” Pierson said about crisis situations. He said situations like this allow students and administration to reflect what needs to be done to better communicate.

“It’s really going to take all of us,” Pierson said, citing that students can report instances to police if they see a potentially dangerous situation.