Michigan State University hires firm to review mass shooting response

• Michigan State University is creating an office to connect people to support
• The university also hired a group to assess its response to the campus shooting
• Many questions remain about the shooting

Michigan State University will create a new temporary office to respond to a mass shooting on campus that killed three students and critically wounded five others on Feb. 13.

The Office for Resource and Support Coordination will be led by two MSU employees, one with a trauma background and one with an emergency operations background, the school announced in a Monday afternoon news release. 

MSU has also selected the firm Security Risk Management Consultants of Columbus, Ohio, for a $193,840 contract to review MSU’s response to the shooting, including the law enforcement response and communications with students and staff during the crisis.

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The gunman killed Arielle Diamond Anderson, 19, of Harper Woods, Brian Fraser, 20, of Grosse Pointe Park and Alexandria Verner, 20, of Clawson. 

Since the shooting, questions have emerged about a 12 to 13-minute delay in alerting the campus about the gunman, the university’s lack of locking doors inside classrooms and security systems that do not yet allow for real-time monitoring of security cameras.  

Even though the shooting was over within 8 minutes, thousands of students were locked down for more than three hours until the gunman shot and killed himself miles away from campus.

The outside review could be finalized later this year. Its recommendations will be public.

“We have not solidified a firm timeline at this point of time, but that’s something we’re working towards,” MSU spokesperson Dan Olsen told Bridge Michigan.

Additionally, Olsen said the new Office for Resource and Support Coordination will exist “so long as it’s needed.” He said other universities that have experienced similar shootings to MSU have had their offices for a few years. 

The university office will: 

• Provide support coordination for families and survivors
• Help coordinate the university’s case management process for people seeking clinical and nonclinical care
• Develop “trauma-informed communication protocols for how key decisions are shared with the campus and specifically those directly impacted”
• Provide guidance on trauma-informed ways to implement and share information around new safety and security measures
• Coordinate and advise on “long-term structures and programs to promote campus healing and resilience” 

The office will be co-led by Natalie Moser and David Brewer. Both will receive a $25,000 raise for their new positions, meaning that Brewer’s new pay will be $180,000 a year. Olsen said he was unsure of what Moser’s current pay is. 

Moser is the director of the MSU Psychological Clinic and is a founding member of MSU’s Trauma Services and Training Network. Olsen said she will transition to her new role full-time on May 1. 

Brewer was the director of building services for MSU’s Infrastructure Planning and Facilities. He has been an active member of MSU’s Emergency Operations Center, according to the news release. He has already transitioned into his new role, Olsen said.