An earlier version of this article mentioned an armed robbery. This statement has since been corrected to reflect a robbery did not occur. This article has been updated to include information about the University’s policy on campus-wide alerts.
A student reported being threatened with a gun near Mercer’s Stadium Drive Bridge around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 23.
According to a police report obtained by The Cluster, the incident occurred after the student honked her horn at a black Dodge Charger that didn’t move when the light at Canton Street changed to green. Canton runs between the Lofts Phase 5 and Mercer Landing.
Both cars proceeded onto campus and the student reported that’s when the driver leaned out the window and pointed “a black cased semi-automatic gun at [the student’s] vehicle.”
The Charger driver didn’t stop, and the student continued to Winship Street and reported the incident to Mercer Police, according to the report.
The reporting officer Clay Maddox indicated a lookout was issued to all Mercer University police and Bibb County Sheriff’s Office units.
The report indicated the incident occurred on “School/Campus,” but Merpo did not issue an alert to the student body.
“Stadium Drive is a public street” and does not count as on campus, according to an email from Mercer University Director of Media Relations Kyle Sears.
In a separate email, Sears said that Mercer Police use the University’s Timely Warning and Emergency Notification Policy to determine when an alert should be sent out to the student body. According to the policy, only when a threat is continuing or ongoing do the police send out an alert.
“Because of the circumstances associated with yesterday's road rage incident, Mercer Police determined that there was not a continuing or ongoing threat, so they did not issue an alert,” Sears said in the email.
Mercer student threatened with gun near Stadium Drive Bridge
Mercer Police is located on the edge of campus on Winship Street. Archived photo by Jenna Eason
