The story of a shooting: recommendations for more effective crisis communication

Abstract

A crisis narrative is used to tell the story of a shooting at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri, United States. The story provides a learning experience for institutions as they seek best practices in handling crises. Although it appears that the university followed procedures correctly in dealing with this situation, questions linger as to whether administrators truly communicated effectively with students. Technology was used to warn students of potential danger, but not enough information was provided so students could deal on a personal level with the crisis. Face-to-face communication is important especially in a crisis to “soften” the blows of the situation.