Brandeis Police and the Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps, as well as other local first responders, conducted an active shooter drill on Wednesday morning in the Goldfarb and Farber libraries.  

A law enforcement officer posed as the active shooter inside the library while student volunteers acted as victims, according to University President Ron Liebowitz in a March 21 email to the Brandeis community. The drill involved emergency vehicles with sirens on, as well as the sound of simulated ammunition.

“It’s very important in today’s climate that first responders get a chance to practice such scenarios,” Vice President of Operations Jim Gray wrote in an email to the Justice.

Along with BEMCo and Brandeis Police, Cataldo Ambulance, the Waltham police and fire departments and the Bentley campus police also participated in the exercise, according to a campus-wide March 20 email from Gray.

In his email to the Justice, Gray said, “Today’s drill was very helpful in terms of practicing our protocols and interactions with Waltham Police and other agencies in an emergency.” The next step in the process is to review the drill in order to see where and how the University can improve its response in the future.

He also thanked those involved, especially the student volunteers and University Librarian Matthew Sheehy and his staff.

Those signed up for the Brandeis Emergency Notification Service (BENS) received emails, texts and phone calls with updates about the drill’s progression. At 9:04 a.m., BENS announced that the drill had begun, and at 11:44 a.m., BENS announced that the drill had completed; the libraries reopened at noon. Brandeis Counseling Center counselors were available in the Department of Community Living office during the drill.

Despite the fact that the drill took place during a week of protests sparked by the February shooting at  Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Gray made it clear in his March 20 email that the exercise was not organized in response to any specific incident, but had been in the works for months. 

Liebowitz added in his March 21 email that “events across the country unfortunately underscore the need for all institutions to prepare to encounter an active shooter scenario.”


—Jocelyn Gould