On June 28, 2023 at approximately 3:30 PM, an assailant armed with two knives entered a classroom and seriously injured a professor and two students.

Shortly after, chaos ensued in the nearby area with no response from the university, despite the police arriving on the scene within three minutes of the first of many 911 calls. Some students had just finished their classes and walked out into the hallways of Hagey Hall, potentially into harms' way, as the attacker had not yet been apprehended, and they were unaware of the present danger. Witnesses described chaotic scenes of people running and screaming.

The University had tested their existing Emergency Alert System, WatSAFE, earlier that day. At 4:46 PM, more than an hour after the incident was called into 911, the University posted an alert on the WatSAFE app, saying police were responding to an incident on campus, without specific mention of a lockdown at Hagey Hall until a later announcement at 5:25 PM. This is the first time since WatSAFE's inception that the alert system had to be used.

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Timeline of Events:

• 3:30-3:35 PM: Armed man stabs two students and one professor
• 3:37 PM: 911 calls received regarding a stabbing, WRPS respond shortly after
• 4:46 PM: Vague WatSAFE alert regarding an active investigation on campus with no location provided
• 5:25 PM: WatSAFE advises people in Hagey Hall to remain inside until escorted out by WRPS

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We are demanding the University of Waterloo completely rework their Emergency Alert System in response to this embarrassing failure. Ideally a plan to implement comprehensive emergency alerts delivered in the many forms, such as text messages, robocalls to cellphones and campus landlines providing recorded warning messages and further instructions, banners on University computers/televisions, as well as a siren/loudspeaker system on campus grounds. These systems are already in place at other universities across Canada and the United States, and would be far more effective than a mobile phone notification delivered well after the threat was neutralized.

A properly working Emergency Alert System is essential to ensure the safety of all the staff, students, and faculty at the University. Should another potentially dangerous incident happen on our campus, a system like this one could potentially save lives.