This is still a developing story keep checking MidJersey.news for further updates:
February 17, 2021
LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP, NJ (MERCER)– An email from Rider University to students, faculty and staff about the incident MidJersey.news brought to you earlier:
This afternoon we issued a stay in place order to students, faculty and staff after receiving a threat we deemed credible and dangerous to the campus community. A former employee of a campus contractor called the University this afternoon and made a direct threat to harm former colleagues on campus. This was the same individual whom we contacted students, faculty and staff about yesterday, believing he potentially posed a risk to our community after he issued a related threat of violence on Feb. 16, one that was not specific to any individual. After receiving this more direct threat today, Lawrence Township Police and Trenton Police, working with Public Safety, immediately responded and quickly placed the individual in custody at his place of residence. The swift action of law enforcement led to Rider lifting the stay in place order in less than an hour.Rider has also issued a Persona Non Grata letter to this individual, which prohibits them from entering or being on University property. Public Safety will continue to have an increased presence on campus. Rider’s top priority is to keep our campus community safe. The precautionary and protective measures taken over the past two days were meant to achieve that goal. We’re grateful for the work of law enforcement and Public Safety and the cooperation of our campus community during this incident. Please know that if we conclude it is not safe to come to campus or to be moving about campus, we will communicate that to you. The first message we sent last night was based on less specific, but still concerning, information. Our assessment of that information led to our putting our community on notice of a person of concern. Today’s threat was much more directed and imminent, such that we issued a shelter in place order, directing everyone on campus to remain in place until further notice so as not to potentially be in harm’s way.In an emergency situation, when information is often not available in abundance, we will always err on the side of caution and issue immediate directives via RiderAlert to students, faculty and staff to help ensure their safety. We will make our best assessment in that moment, focusing on immediate safety, and provide additional information as it becomes available.
Our main way to communicate urgent information during an emergency is through Rider Alert, our electronic notification system for students, faculty and staff. We will almost always utilize text messaging in an emergency, as it is the fastest and most efficient way to disseminate information. If you did not receive a Rider Alert message during this incident, please contact Debbie Stasolla at [email protected].
Thank you again for your cooperation, patience and understanding. We will continue to share relevant new information as it becomes available.