Manchester college president seeks armed police

MANCHESTER, Conn. (WTNH) --  The President of Manchester Community College is calling for more security on campus including armed guards just days after a lockdown when a student reported seeing a man with what she believed was a gun in his waistband.

"Some people were trying to take photos and put them up on Facebook of the cops and that's the worst thing you can do. If you spook a cop in full mode," said Donna Nicholson, Instructor.

It was a wide open discussion and everything was on the table with the goal to improve safety.

"Other problems, the fish bowl atmosphere where many people got locked down in a glass fishbowls where there is no way to hunker down or lock down," said Nicholson.

Jenny says she was locked down in the library with a lot of glass and no where to hide. Dozens of students retreated into the stairwell but they could not lock the door.

"We had backpacks stacked in the door because we didn't know who was going to come in," said Jenny Garcia.

There are handicap buttons to push and the door swings open so it was very difficult to keep the doors locked, however students were coming up with their own ways. One student took a belt and wrapped it around the door handle and then part of the wall to keep it from swinging open.

"In my room we literally had big guys holding on to the door, pulling on it and we developed our own methods of weapons in case someone came in," said Nicholson.

The president listened to all of the different ideas, all of the problems and solutions and one of the big questions is whether or not to arm their own police force. If that were the case, the response time would have been immediate and MCC officers would have been able to help sweep the building.

"Our police department recognizes our students, they know all of our entrances and stairwells, they know faculty and staff and it might have helped," said President of Manchester Community College Dr. Gena Glickman.