Possible JMU Break-In?
Harrisonburg, Va.
Posted: 5:22 PM Nov 5, 2007
Last Updated: 2:23 PM Nov 6, 2007
Reporter: James Jackson
Email Address:
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James Madison University Police are investigating an alleged incident on campus involving a break-in at Jackson Hall.
An email sent by building coordinator and history department head, Michael Galgano, reports a custodian entered a classroom to clean and discovered six or seven strangers sleeping in the room, one of whom had a gun.
None of the people were students. However, the email was only sent to faculty in the building to notify them of what happened.
"It was somewhat disconcerting to know that people are in the building that aren't supposed to be," says history professor William Van Norman.
Van Norman believes the custodian's story about what happened.
"It seems credible to me, knowing the person that it came from," adds Van Norman.
Several students who learned about the e-mail after it was sent were surprised they were not notified.
"I guess I'm glad they're not trying to freak us out really quickly, but sometimes they jump to conclusions, but it'd be nice if we at least heard about this," comments Paige Bolton, a sophomore who has class in Jackson Hall.
"In this situation, there is an ongoing investigation, but with the information known at this time, a timely notification was not required in this case," says University spokesperson Don Egle.
Because it's early in this investigation, the school's Department of Public Safety has not issued widespread information about this case.
"The University is committed to campus safety and we're committed to that process and we've done a number of things over the years to insure that that commitment remains strong," replies Egle.
