Stacy Rue, Jacqueline Celecia, Andrew Pack, and Christina Wright oral history interview, 2020 March 11

Description

J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives staff discuss their collective lockdown experience on April 30 2019 when they were caught for approximately four hours in the Lower Level area of the library. The discussion focuses on how they heard that there was an active shooter on campus; how they felt as initial denial turned into the realization that the warnings were accurate; how they tracked the situation through access to social media and eventually the local media coverage of events that were unfolding right outside the building; their isolation from those events resulting from being in a secure area of the library; efforts made to alert the police of their presence in the library after all other areas of the building had been evacuated; and their eventual evacuation. The group first became aware that there was a potential shooter on campus when a message was announced on the library intercom at about 5:40pm, some ten minutes ahead of an official warning. Using time stamps from phone calls, texts, and tweets Stacy Rue outlines the chronology of events; at 5:45pm her mother called and confirmed that police were pouring onto campus and students were streaming away from buildings; at 4:51 the official campus "Run Hide Fight" warning message was issued; at around 6pm a tweet by WSOC's Joe Bruno showed an aerial view of the Kennedy Building as the center of the shooting event; at about 6:40pm a tweet began trending that showed a photograph of the Atkins Library's front door smashed and caused confusion about how the library was implicated in the event; at 6:44pm a text announced that officers were sweeping the buildings; at 8pm Stacy's mother who was waiting at the Harris Teeter parking lot temporary command station across Hwy. 49 from campus was finally able to connect the group with police who were responsible for clearing people out of campus buildings. The group conclude with a description of the surreal nature of the scene that met them as they finally evacuated the library.

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Niner Nation Remembers Oral History Project

Details

Title: Stacy Rue, Jacqueline Celecia, Andrew Pack, and Christina Wright oral history interview, 2020 March 11
Interviewee: Rue, Stacy L. (Stacy Lynn)
Interviewer: Wright, Christina
Contributor: Celecia, Jacqueline
Pack, Andrew
Wright, Christina
Place of Publication: Charlotte, North Carolina
Publisher: J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections & University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Date of Interview: 2020-03-11
Physical Description: 1 audio file (1:14:15) : Digital, MP3
Object Type: sound recording-nonmusical
Genre: spoken word
Language: eng
Interviewee Biography: Jacqueline Celecia was a 58-year-old woman at the time of interview, which took place in the J. Murrey Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte in Charlotte North Carolina. She was employed as a Library Technician at the J. Murrey Atkins Library. Andrew Pack was a 29-year-old man at the time of interview, which took place in the J. Murrey Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte in Charlotte North Carolina. He was born in Winston-Salem in 1990. He was educated at UNC Charlotte where he earned a BA in History and International Studies, and an MA in History. He was employed as an Archives Assistant at the J. Murrey Atkins Library. Stacy Rue was a 40-year-old woman at the time of interview, which took place in the J. Murrey Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte in Charlotte North Carolina. She was born in Metairie in Louisiana in 1979. She was educated at UNC Charlotte, where she earned a BA in Arts and Communication Studies in 2006, and at UNC Greensboro where she earned an MLIS in 2014. She was employed as a Digital Production Assistant at the J. Murrey Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte. Christina Wright was a 63-year-old woman at the time of interview, which took place in the J. Murrey Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte in Charlotte North Carolina. She was born in Rawmarsh, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom in 1956. She was educated at Lancaster University where she earned a BA in History and English, and at UNC Charlotte where she earned an MA in History, and was employed as an Oral History Interviewer at the J. Murrey Atkins Library.
Abstract: J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives staff discuss their collective lockdown experience on April 30 2019 when they were caught for approximately four hours in the Lower Level area of the library. The discussion focuses on how they heard that there was an active shooter on campus; how they felt as initial denial turned into the realization that the warnings were accurate; how they tracked the situation through access to social media and eventually the local media coverage of events that were unfolding right outside the building; their isolation from those events resulting from being in a secure area of the library; efforts made to alert the police of their presence in the library after all other areas of the building had been evacuated; and their eventual evacuation. The group first became aware that there was a potential shooter on campus when a message was announced on the library intercom at about 5:40pm, some ten minutes ahead of an official warning. Using time stamps from phone calls, texts, and tweets Stacy Rue outlines the chronology of events; at 5:45pm her mother called and confirmed that police were pouring onto campus and students were streaming away from buildings; at 4:51 the official campus "Run Hide Fight" warning message was issued; at around 6pm a tweet by WSOC's Joe Bruno showed an aerial view of the Kennedy Building as the center of the shooting event; at about 6:40pm a tweet began trending that showed a photograph of the Atkins Library's front door smashed and caused confusion about how the library was implicated in the event; at 6:44pm a text announced that officers were sweeping the buildings; at 8pm Stacy's mother who was waiting at the Harris Teeter parking lot temporary command station across Hwy. 49 from campus was finally able to connect the group with police who were responsible for clearing people out of campus buildings. The group conclude with a description of the surreal nature of the scene that met them as they finally evacuated the library.
Digital Object Notes: MP3 access copy created on ingest from WAV preservation master. Interview originally recorded on a Zoom H5 digital recorder with XY modular mic.
Interviewee Occupations: Library technicians
Subjects--Names: Rue, Stacy L. (Stacy Lynn)
Subjects--Organizations: University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Subjects--Topics: School shootings
College students
Campus police
Social media
Twitter
Public safety
Subjects--Geographic: North Carolina--Charlotte
Subjects--Genre: Oral histories
Interviews
Coverage--Dates: 2010-2020
Digital Collection Title: UNC Charlotte Oral History Interviews
Digital Collection Series Title: Niner Nation Remembers Oral History Project
Rights: This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
This material is protected by copyright. Copyright is held by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Internet Media Type: audio/mpeg
Related Interviews: UNC Charlotte April 30 tragedy memorial collection, MS0584, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. https://findingaids.uncc.edu/repositories/4/resources/1535
Identifier: NR-RU0016
Handle URL: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/uncc:3092

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