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Texas A&M-Commerce Releases Campus Safety Improvement Plan After Deadly Shooting

Texas A&M University-Commerce issued a two-page campus safety action plan, two days after two women were shot and killed and a 2-year-old was shot and injured on campus.

The plan says, “The health, safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff is our number one priority at Texas A&M University-Commerce. This plan demonstrates our commitment to continually assess and improve our facilities, policies, and procedures to ensure our campus is safe and secure.”

The plan calls for:

Increase the number of campus-wide patrols by University Police personnel, with a priority on residential living
Faculty and staff participation in the Pride Alert Warning System (PAWS) and Lion Safe app
Hire additional personnel to staff the front desks at each of our residence halls to monitor 24-hour controlled-access
Increase the frequency of inspections to ensure that access control hardware and software is functioning properly on all campus buildings
Improve campus-wide light, with particular attention to high student traffic and residential living areas
Create a campus-wide safe-walk/buddy system program to provide safe travel for students between locations on campus
Conduct focus groups hosted by our University Police Department to hear student and community concerns and respond appropriately
Increase safety training and information sessions for students, faculty and staff

In addition, campus security will ask the Texas Division of Emergency Management and the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service to perform an audit of all safety-related plans, policies, procedures and facilities at the university. The report will be issued by the end of March 2020.

According to a news report, the shooting victims were sisters, one of whom was a freshman student at the university. They were shot by the ex-boyfriend of the student's sister. A 21-year-old man has been identified and arrested as the shooter. He gas a string of prior arrests, dating back four years with charges including evading arrest, theft and aggravated robbery.