Spring Break
UGA officials say students safe as police roam campus with automatic weapons
TYLER ESTEP & CHELSEA COOK
Issue date: 4/27/09 Section: News
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Adams and Williamson both said all appropriate measures are being taken to make the University's campus safe.
"We will deploy without regard to expense any means necessary to provide for the safety of our students and our faculty," Adams said.
While armed UGA police officers continue to roam campus on foot with semi-automatic AR-15 rifles, Williamson said that "our campus is very safe."
"We operate under the philosophy that it's better to have the equipment and not have the need than to have the need and not have the equipment," Williamson said.
"I have no reason to believe they'll need it, but it's better to have them in a situation like this."
Adams again stressed that the University will operate on a regular schedule this week, but said he could not comment on any part of the ongoing investigation.
Both Adams and Williamson expressed strong belief that Zinkhan was no longer in the Athens area, but under the advisement of Athens-Clarke County Police would not reveal their reasoning. Adams announced Zinkhan has been fired and his nameplate taken off his office door.
"We encourage everyone to execute caution until the suspect is apprehended," Adams said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 7 of 12
Charles
posted 4/27/09 @ 1:01 PM EST
Just ridiculous. This automatic weapon BS just makes the campus a playground for Williamson's "toys" and a nightmare of an accident waiting to happen. (Continued…)
South Campus Guy
posted 4/27/09 @ 1:06 PM EST
Maybe it would be better to say police are patrolling North/Central campus...I've yet to see any on South Campus...I guess it makes for better photo ops that way
Matt
posted 4/27/09 @ 1:21 PM EST
It really seems a bit much to have rifle patrols.
It looks ridiculous, actually. What are the ROE?
Dutch
posted 4/27/09 @ 1:43 PM EST
I'm sure those with the rifles have been trained to use them, so I don't have any problem with them whatsoever. The standard handguns are useless beyond 25 yards and I wouldn't want to die because trained law enforcement officers were ill-equipped due to political correctness. (Continued…)
UGA student
posted 4/27/09 @ 2:44 PM EST
I thank the UGA police for having a presence on campus during this time. I would feel much less safe if they were not there - automatic weapons are just a necessity to take down a mad gunman if he happened to show on campus, but I think we can all agree that he's probably not going to show up - he's probably either way the hell out of town or he has killed himself. (Continued…)
K. Taylor
posted 4/27/09 @ 4:24 PM EST
All I'll say is, remember the UGA Ninja.
mookie
posted 4/27/09 @ 7:14 PM EST
There is a difference between "automatic" and "semi-automatic" weapons. Many hunting rifles are semi-automatic. That just means that every time you pull the trigger the weapon fires, once. (Continued…)
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