An IU-Notify alert was not issued early Sunday morning in response to a shooting on South Grant Street because it occurred off-campus.
IU spokesperson Chuck Carney said the university owns the property that served as the venue of the party that led to the Sunday shooting. He said it’s an off-campus rental property.
Carney said the decision to not issue an IU-Notify alert had little to do with the ownership of the property and more to do with the facts that were presented about the arrest of a shooter.
Ben Hunter, associate vice president for IU Public Safety and Institutional Assurance, said another reason an alert was not sent out was because with the information IU had at the time, IU didn’t believe there was a serious and continued threat.
Bloomington Police Department Capt. Ryan Pedigo said the shooting occurred at a large party thrown by a group of four people. The group looks for venues and throws large parties promoted through social media.
Hunter said one of the factors which determine whether an IU-Notify alert is issued is location of the incident. He said incidents that occur on-campus or on IU-owned property warrant alerts.
“The house where the party occurred and where at least one of the people who was shot went to seek assistance is an IU property,” Carney said. “But now the shooting took place on the street, it was not actually in the house.”
Carney said the information IU had at the time was that the shooter was caught within a few minutes of the incident. He said with that information and without the knowledge of multiple shooters, IU determined there wasn’t an ongoing threat to campus.
“It wouldn’t have made a lot of sense to issue an IU-Notify when the shooter was already in custody,” Carney said.
When asked about if the victim running into the IU-owned property for assistance brought the house into the incident, Carney said it did not because the shooting still took place on the street.
“It was not in the house,” Carney said. “The threat is not someone seeking assistance in the house, it’s really the shooting that is the incident.”
