Bomb threat against Lipscomb diverted by Lipscomb Security team

Lipscomb students might take the security team for granted. But even though jump-starting cars is part of their job, Security’s primary role is to protect students’ lives every day.

Last Tuesday, this was especially apparent. Karissa Hamlet, age 25, was arrested for posting a bomb threat against Lipscomb on Facebook; the arrest was made after Lipscomb security alerted the Nashville Metro Police about the threat.

Hamlet attached her threat to an article about how Lipscomb Academy handled protests following a memorial for Charlie Kirk. She was charged with threatening mass violence against a school and false reporting.

Herd Media sat down with Captain Aaron Eaton, Lipscomb Security’s Director of Operations, to ask him about the threat. Below is the transcript, edited for clarity and length.

Herd Media: Last week, an online threat was made against Lipscomb University. How did Security find out about the post? And what were the next steps taken?

Cpt. Eaton: We were notified by somebody who saw the post online, and they sent it to us to make us aware of it. Once we saw it, we contacted the Metro Nashville Police Department to start a criminal investigation.

Herd Media: Where is the line between when Lipscomb Security handles something, and when Nashville Police gets involved?

Cpt. Eaton: There are things that are more appropriate for Security to deal with. But when it gets to the level of criminal behavior that needs to be addressed by the judicial system, then we notify the police to do a full investigation.

If the situation is so inappropriate that we deem the police need to be involved, we’ll notify them. This online threat was just not appropriate; we can’t have people making threats. We needed the police to do a further investigation to determine what the threat was, the context, who the person was and if they had a criminal background or history. 

There are other incidences within our campus that we can handle through our judicial process of student conduct.

Herd Media: A lot of crazy stuff gets posted online. What triggered a security response in this instance, as opposed to saying someone is just “venting their feelings?”

Cpt. Eaton: Anytime that there’s a threat today, we need to take it seriously. We need to find out what the person was thinking when they wrote that.

Are they just venting, like you said? It tends to be that they don’t use threatening language such as “bomb” or “kill.” So we need to do a further investigation, and the police need to really look into the context. 

But we need to take each and every one of them seriously, for the safety of the campus and for the community.

Herd Media: When it comes to Lipscomb Security in general, how does your team manage such a large student body, multiple campuses and now the online realm, too?

Cpt. Eaton: We engage with the whole community, faculty, staff and students.

We expect everybody to be part of security. Eyes and ears, right? We want everyone to be involved in safety, and to have the mindset and ability to see suspicious things, either online or in person, and to report it to us so that we can get involved.

We also continually train with our partners in the Nashville police and other law enforcement agencies. We collaborate in meetings to talk about trends, including the online sphere.

Herd Media: How can Lipscomb students best be prepared and alert?

Cpt. Eaton: Paying attention to surroundings is a big one. We’re doing training sessions in our dorms, where we sit down and talk about things like active shooter situations.

Another thing I talk about in these trainings is the idea that everyone should develop good safety habits. As you go throughout your day, what are the things you can do to be safe?

Good safety habits are things like carrying a flashlight with you, not just your phone flashlight. Make sure you lock the door behind you. Make sure you take away the opportunity for theft by taking things out of your car.

And anytime you see something suspicious, make sure you say something. That’s really important.

Herd Media: Thank you so much. Is there anything else you want to add?

Cpt. Eaton: We love talking about safety. It’s part of our routine; we want to develop a good relationship with students and faculty, to encourage communication.

We want you not only to be safe here, but we want you to be safe in your community, in the future, at home, or wherever you come from. Helping you develop good safety habits is part of our role here.

We’re here for everybody to make life here safe and secure.

Herd Media: Thank you again for your time.

Cpt. Eaton: Thank you.

Contact Lipscomb Security by calling (615) 966-7600. Also, download the Lipscomb Ready App to receive security updates and access support services.

Feature image courtesy of Lipscomb University.