Mark Reynolds, Facilities Manager for the J. Murrey Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte, discusses his experiences on April 30 2019, his responsibilities as facilities manager, and the response of the University community following the campus shooting. Although off campus when the shooting occurred, Mr. Reynolds describes his emotional response on receiving the active shooter warning on his phone, something he had dreaded for many years. In his capacity as facilities manager he felt responsibility to return to campus and offer what help he could with respect to the library, where students and staff were locked down for a significant time. He describes the scene at the front entrance to the campus when he arrived, where the approach road was blocked with emergency vehicles and law enforcement personnel, and where people were moving away from the buildings. Upon realizing that he could not communicate with library security staff or other safety officers, Mr. Reynolds joined his wife Nancy Reynolds at Crosspoint Worship Center, across Hwy 49 from campus, where Rev. Theron Hobbs Sr. had opened the church to anyone who needed assistance. There Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds remained until midnight to help hand out water and food, offer support, make calls, and give rides to those who were stranded. Mr. Reynolds notes the confusion, fear, and dismay among those who were evacuated from the library, where doors were broken in and personal belongings were left behind, leaving students and staff without a means of communication. He details the findings of a campus security focus group, which indicated that a breakdown in communication between law agencies had affected the intensity of the library's evacuation. During the interview Mr. Reynolds also discusses the history of the security team in the library that he started in the early 1990s in reaction to perceived safety vulnerabilities, and how this team evolved over time; how active shooter training has changed over time, with the sobering realization that the current ALICE (Alert, Lock down, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) training offered to the campus community assumes the likelihood of an active shooter incident; his conviction that until society legislates measures to better control access to firearms these incidents will continue to occur.
