Chief Jeffrey Baker shares his experience leading UNC Charlotte Police on the evening of April 30th, 2019, after reports of an active shooter in the Kennedy building. Chief Baker had finished the evening roll call for officers working the Waka Flaka Flame concert, a show scheduled to take place at the football stadium on campus that evening, when he received reports of a shooter and proceeded toward the Kennedy building. He discusses major decisions that had to be made, such as locking down campus and declaring the subject in custody was acting alone, as well as managing the 200 Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) officers and officers from other counties who had arrived to assist UNCC Police. In the hours after the shooting, Chief Baker met with local and state politicians, media outlets, officials with the SBI, FBI and other agencies, and spoke to family members gathered at the Family Reunification Center. Chief Baker discusses counseling services made available to officers in the days and weeks after the tragedy and the support the police received from the greater Charlotte community. He concludes his interview speaking to the complex profession that is policing and the resilience of Americans to overcome tragedy.
