Pitt installs panic buttons inside classrooms

PITTSBURGH — School shootings are an all too familiar and terrifying scene, but at the University of Pittsburgh, students and professors will soon be armed with a new tool to help fight back.

Panic buttons are being installed for the fall semester in about 400 main campus classrooms, generally on doors or podiums, to quickly call for help in case of an active threat or emergency.

“I think it’s sad that there needs to be panic buttons in classrooms,” said Pitt freshman Evie Chmar. “I wish we could just not have this many school shootings and issues.”

The university posted a video to its website showing how the device works. Once pushed, classroom doors lock from the outside and police are immediately called.

“That’s a massive step in the right direction,” said Pitt alumnus Gibby Hribal.

The new security measures come after two calls in the spring about an active shooter at the university, including in the library. Turns out, those calls were all a hoax, but it caused mass panic with students running for their lives.

“It was really scary. No one had any idea what the truth was,” Hribal said. “I saw videos of students jumping out of the windows of the library. People were so scared that they weren’t walking or running down the ramp. They were jumping off the handlebars of the ramp to run and flee from the building as fast as possible.”

Hribal was finishing his senior year studying for finals that night when police rushed to the campus.

“They smashed the windows of the library and everything,” Hribal said. “People heard smashes and large booms.”

Hribal said no emergency alerts were sent to students for hours, leaving many in the dark.

“Communication was terrible,” he said. “Every student will agree on that. The communication was absolutely terrible. No one had any idea what was happening.”

Freshman Evie Chmar and her classmates are hopeful the panic buttons will keep everyone safe and improve communication during an emergency when seconds count.

“Overall, this campus, I feel very safe,” Chmar said.

According to the university’s paper, more campuswide safety trainings are in the works and will roll out throughout the year.

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