USC: Murder-suicide response ‘appropriate’

The University of South Carolina has found in an internal review that its response to an on-campus murder-suicide in February was appropriate but suffered from “occasional technical failures” to communicate quickly and reliably what was happening to the university community.

The university should and will do better, and some changes are already being enacted, the report said.

USC Public Health faculty member Raja Fayad was shot to death in his office Feb. 5 by his ex-wife, who was trying to become a doctoral student at the school. She then turned the gun on herself.

Students and faculty scattered, and cell phones lit up across downtown Columbia. The Public Health Research Center on Assembly Street was evacuated. Some students received alerts about gunfire. But others didn’t. And it was hours before it was clear what had happened and before the public knew that those involved weren’t students.

USC made its findings of the internal review public late Friday afternoon in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed after the shooting by The State newspaper.

The review determined the “University’s immediate reactions to the shootings ... were appropriate, that executive actions to protect and notify the University community were appropriate as well.”

The report was submitted by USC’s director of strategic planning, Cameron Howell, to USC President Harris Pastides.

It details the events surrounding the shooting death of Fayad inside his office by Sunghee Kwon, her subsequent suicide, the response by security personnel and notification of students and staff about the emergency.

The review concluded that while actions on all levels were “appropriate” and sound according to professional standards and available information at the time, “occasional technical failures in timely and reliable communication to the University community” were a problem and that improvements are being made.

The report proposes more emergency-preparedness training and said improved “technological capabilities enabling speed and reliability of emergency notices” is warranted.

Deficiencies listed in the report included a limit on how many emails the university could send in an hour, failure to deploy emergency alert sirens and Alert FM notices, errors in some of the Carolina Alert notifications and failure of the USC online homepage to reflect the emergency status during the crisis.

In addition, to avoid confusion in the future, students and staff should have a better understanding of how to respond in an active shooter situation and how facilities are to be secured.

The report points out that an estimated 10,000 new people arrive on campus every year, including students, staff, and contractors. The population turnover requires an aggressive outreach in crisis education that is “structured, proactive and highly visible.”

The recommendations “are being enacted” the report says to “safeguard current and future members of the USC community and to improve USC’s preparedness for any future emergencies.”

The report praises the swift response of law enforcement personnel with the USC Division of Law Enforcement and Safety.

“The first law-enforcement officer arrived at the PHRC, 1 minute and 53 seconds after a dispatcher received a 911 call from the (building’s) fourth floor. Three more officers arrived at the scene before 2 minutes and 32 seconds had elapsed since the 911 call.”

They could not get in the locked office, room 403A. But nine minutes and 55 seconds after the 911 call, the officers were able to enter by breaking glass in the door and soon determined the two people there were deceased and not a continuing threat.

The report also says that graduate students who were nearby “when shots were fired inside room 403A conducted themselves with great maturity and clarity of purpose – locking doors; phoning 911; monitoring laboratory 403 for any movement, while awaiting police support; securing safe areas of shelter for themselves and for peers; and providing law enforcement with valuable, timely information regarding both the crime scene and relevant events in the past.”

This story was originally published August 21, 2015 at 10:55 PM.