This is an ongoing situation. For follow-up reporting on this matter, see this article.
Police responded to an active shooter call at Davis Family Library on Sunday night around 10:30 p.m. Officers worked to locate all students in the library, moving them to secure locations in the building before evacuating them, according to students inside the library at the time.
Middlebury Public Safety officers took down the information of evacuated students before allowing them to return to their dorms. By this point, students had still not received an alert notification from the college, but information about the incident spread quickly via text and social media, with those in the library sharing details of what was happening with friends and family. On the Middlebury parents Facebook group, many raised concerns about the lack of immediate communication from the college.
At 11:53 p.m. students received MIDDALERT notifications via text, email and phone.
“There has been a report of an active shooter at the Davis Famiy [sic] Library on campus. Police officers are on scene and are searching the library. So far, they have not found anything and this does not appear to be a credible threat. Shelter in place until further notice. We will provide more information once it becomes available,” the email message read.
A 12:24 a.m. MIDDALERT gave students the “all clear” message.
“Law enforcement has determined no credible threat of an active shooter in Davis Library. Shelter in place has been lifted,” the message on the MIDDALERT site read.
The Davis Family Library live cam shows police cars arriving at the back of the building a little before 11 p.m. The cam, which only shows the front of the building, later showed some occupants exiting the library through the front doors. At around 11:30, the cam showed people who appeared to be police moving through the inside and on roof of the building. At around 12:10 p.m. several people who appeared to be police exited the building with flashlights.
Abigail Chang ’23 (she/her) is the Editor in Chief.
She previously served as a managing editor, Senior News Editor, News Editor and co-host of The Campus' weekly news radio show.
Chang is majoring in English and minoring in linguistics. She is a member of the Media Portrayals of Minorities Project, a Middlebury lab that uses computer-assisted and human coding techniques to analyze bulk newspaper data.
Throughout last year, Chang worked on source diversity and content audits for different media properties as an intern for Impact Architects LLC. Chang spent summer 2021 in Vermont, working as a general assignment reporter for statewide digital newspaper VTDigger. Chang is also a member of the Middlebury Paradiddles, an a cappella group.
