Statement from UALR Chancellor Joel Anderson
Before the briefing on yesterday’s shooting incident, I want to say that the victim, James Earl Matthews, underwent surgery and I understand the surgery went well and that the outlook is good. Vice Chancellor Charles Donaldson and I visited his family last evening in the hospital. I know I speak for the entire campus community in saying that his welfare is upper-most in our minds. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. In addition to providing you information about the incident, we are here to respond to questions about the safety of students, faculty and staff.
Today I am here to assure our students, their parents, our faculty and staff, and this community, that UALR is among the safest campuses in the South. Our annual Campus Safety Report, which is federally mandated of all campuses and can be found on our website, confirms this. We have a certified police department whose officers go through the same rigorous training as other municipal police.
Yesterday’s shooting occurred on the south side of the UALR campus near the tennis courts at approximately 2:15 p.m. A passerby called 9-1-1 at 2:20 p.m., and UALR Sergeant James Heath reached the scene three minutes later. Within moments, he was joined by Chief Brad King and other UALR police officers. Approximately 10 minutes after the 9-1-1 call, a MEMS ambulance arrived and transferred the victim to a local hospital. Within 14 minutes of the 9-1-1 call, a campus-wide alert was sent to students, faculty and staff via telephone and email.
In the coming days and weeks we will, with broad campus participation, evaluate our response and our security measures and continue to take steps to ensure the safety of the campus community.
I’d like to commend Chief King for his department’s quick response and investigation of this incident, and the Little Rock Police Department for their assistance.