Anyone needing support after this morning’s incident on the St. John’s campus is encouraged to reach out for help.

Students should visit the Counselling Centre located on the fourth floor of the University Centre where staff is ready and able to provide help. You can visit the website here.

Employees can access support from the Employee Assistance Program and Human Resources. The university’s service provider Shepell is well equipped to help any employee who needs support at this time. Here’s how to access their services or you can reach out to your HR advisor. 

What happened this morning?

At 7:55 a.m., Campus Enforcement and Patrol (CEP) received reports a suspicious male on the St. John’s campus, possibly with a weapon. CEP immediately notified the RNC, who responded within five minutes.

There were multiple sightings in different areas of campus. The RNC conducted a search of campus, spoke with witnesses and detained a male. No weapons were found, no one was injured and the male, who is not a current student, was detained under the Mental Health Act. The RNC issued an all clear at 8:35 a.m., at which time normal operations resumed.  As part of the reset of the audio alert system later in the morning, the voiceover system sounded a test alert as it was reset. This was heard in some areas, including the University Centre. 

In the event of an emergency updates are shared by Twitter @MemorialU and through Newsline. This morning, there was a technical issue that prevented the first Newsline message from being distributed to the university community. This has been rectified.

To prepare yourself and for more information about emergency procedures at Memorial University, please visit here.