“No one is immune from these things,” President Crowley says, following the NMCC lockdown last week

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) - The Northern Maine Community College went into a lockdown the morning of Thursday, November 2, 2023. After an investigation was made by local law enforcement, classes resumed for the rest of the day.

The Presque Isle Police were contacted about a potential threat on the Northern Maine Community College campus on Thursday morning. Deputy Chief Chris Hayes explains, “At approximately 9:45 this morning we received a call that a man was in possession of a firearm on the NMCC campus. NMCC, in accordance with their protocols, went into lockdown. And subsequent to an investigation with the subject, no charges were pressed. He was just asked to leave the campus.”

The Presque Isle Police Department confirmed that there was no known threat to the public at any time and that no one inside the buildings was threatened or harmed.

Tim Crowley, the President of NMCC, says the lockdown went smoothly and people across campus were notified in a timely manner. “We basically have a Rave Alert system which sends messages out to cellphones and computers, all computers on campus and public spaces, that lets people know that they should go into their office or classroom, lock the door, and wait for further information,” Crowley explains. “It’s a system that worked quite well for us today - we’ve used it before, we’ve practiced, but this was more of a live event, and it worked quite well for us.”

President Crowley says although the lockdown procedures went well, there are some improvements that will be made if another lockdown were to happen in the future. “Communication is something that will probably change,” asserts Crowley. “The Rave Alert message and what we put out on social media, the timing on that needs to be a little tighter, so we learned that today, so I think you’ll see a change there. The other changes I think are, are minor. I think we’re - I felt very proud of the way we responded today, very proud of the people that work here and the students.”

President Crowley says he wants the public to know the college is doing everything it can to keep its campus safe and support the community. “No one is immune from these things and it’s important to be prepared and to be talking about it and helping people get through this because this does create emotions that they’re going to deal with for some time,” Crowley says.

The college is checking in on students who may have felt increased emotions surrounding the situation today and will do what they can to support them.

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