MU Police Department and MU released a joint statement Thursday explaining why there was a failure to notify students about the presence of an armed registered sex offender near campus.
The statement reads:
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Last night, as law enforcement searched for an armed suspect near campus, the University of Missouri failed to follow established protocols and procedures in alerting the MU community in a timely manner. Specifically, the MUAlert system was not activated when it should have been, and we apologize to our community. A preliminary review of the MU response revealed that staff members attempting to confirm the exact location of the suspect is likely what caused the delay.
In addition, an initial text alert to students, staff and faculty should have been released when the University first received a statement from the Columbia Police Department containing the suspect’s description and potential location.
The safety and security of our students, staff and faculty is our absolute top priority at the University of Missouri and the lapse in procedures will be corrected.
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“(We) went back and reviewed the various discussions that took place and what happened and what decisions were made and why and when they were made,” MU spokesman Christian Basi said on the phone. “The issue that we had last night was that the suspect’s location was consistently changing and doing so rapidly.”
Basi said MU officials will be reviewing procedures and the protocols with the people involved with the incident last night.
Columbia Police Department officers were [searching for Mark Adair, a registered sex offender](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/4/15/armed-robbery-suspect-shot-after-confrontation-cpd/) with a warrant out for his arrest after absconding parole. Around 5:35 p.m. Wednesday, officers responded to a call of an attempted armed robbery at Mosers Foods and were searching for the car they believed Adair was in.
Later in the night, CPD received a call that Adair had been seen near Rose Music Hall, formerly MoJo’s, and they believed he was on foot.
An MU Police Department officer first confronted Adair at around 11 p.m. in Hitt Street Parking Garage. The officer, who has not been named, was taken to University Hospital on Wednesday night with non fatal injuries, MUPD Capt. Brian Weimer said.
Adair was shot and killed during the incident. Weimer said a tip of the officer’s finger was hurt in the exchange. The officer was released from the hospital Thursday morning.
A CPD officer arrived on the scene shortly after. Weimer did not specify which officer shot and killed Adair.
The MU Alert was sent to students around 12:30 a.m.
Deputy Chief of Police Jill Schlude said Wednesday night that CPD is fairly certain the deceased is Adair, but they will run fingerprint scans later to double check.
“We are 95 percent sure the deceased is Adair based on physical characteristics,” she said Wednesday night.
Missouri State Highway Patrol has taken over the investigation of the incident could not be reached for comment at this time.
In a news briefing Wednesday night, Weimer said the MUAlert was ready to be sent out to students once Adair stepped foot on campus, but he was confronted by police before that time. Adair was already dead when the MUAlert account tweeted:
During a search for an armed robbery Columbia Police asked MUPD for asst. Suspect engaged police, was shot & killed: http://t.co/HcjpmA31sa
— MU Alert (@MUalert) April 16, 2015
Many students showed frustration with the timing of the alert on Twitter. Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin replied:
We are aware of concerns about timing of last night's MUAlert. We are investigating process for issuing alerts and will report the results.
— R. Bowen Loftin (@bowtieger) April 16, 2015
_Stay with The Maneater for updates on the story._
