When an anonymous call reporting a potential school-shooting threat came into ​​Cal State Bakersfield University IT Department at approximately 2:45 p.m. on Feb. 2, parts of the campus community were left in the dark. 

Despite a lockdown taking place and coordination with multiple law enforcement agencies, some students, faculty, and staff did not receive emergency alerts, raising questions about the effectiveness of CSUB’s safety protocols and communication systems. 

President Dr. Vernon B. Harper sent a campus-wide email praising staff and emergency response teams for handling the situation.  

“Remaining calm and focused in the face of a potential threat is difficult, and I appreciate your cooperation,” he wrote, while also providing mental health resources for students and staff affected by the incident. 

University Police Chief Maricela Gonzalez said CSUB relies on a third-party vendor, Finalsite, to send emergency notifications. Gonzalez said the vendor failed to process all names on the alert list, and some contact information may have been outdated. 

 “A large part of the issue was the third-party vendor not properly processing all the names that needed to be added to the alert list,” Gonzalez said. “Some of it may have also been outdated contact information from students, staff, and faculty.” 

Jennifer Self, CSUB’S public information officer explained that the university provides the vendor with a distribution list, which the vendor then uses to send alerts. 

“Students, faculty, and staff are responsible for making sure their contact information is updated in MyCSUB or MyHR to ensure emergency alerts are received,” Self said. 

Even before the lockdown began, Gonzalez said the University Police Department was coordinating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bakersfield Police Department to identify the caller and assess the threat. 

“As soon as we went into lockdown, Bakersfield Police Department units were already responding to campus to assist with traffic control and monitoring access points,” Gonzalez said. The Kern County Sheriff’s Department also deployed units, and the California Highway Patrol was contacted. 

Some students mentioned that allegedly not all staff at the campus daycare were notified of the lockdown and that there were no officers visible outside of the daycare, though Gonzalez confirmed at least one officer was stationed outside the childcare center. 

A similar threat occurred the next day at Bakersfield College around 11 a.m., drawing comparisons between how each campus handled the situation. According to the Bakersfield Police Department, Sgt. Keith Schlecht, BPD collaborated with campus security to release students gradually to avoid panic and used multiple alert systems to communicate with the campus community. 

“The priority was the child development center,” Schlect said. “Transportation was provided for kids on campus.”  

Student Keyauna Robertson praised the response at Bakersfield College. 

 “Faculty and staff did an amazing job protecting students, and student services were offered to check on mental health,” Robertson said. 

While CSUB has a campus police presence and coordinated with multiple agencies, CSUB released all students at once, which some students say created confusion and stress. 

CSUB is reviewing the incident and plans to switch to a new emergency alert vendor used by other CSU campuses.  

“Going forward, we are working to partner with an industry-leading emergency notification vendor used by other CSU campuses and endorsed by the California emergency notification system,” Self said. 

The incident has underscored the importance of maintaining accurate contact information. “We hope this incident reinforces the importance of students, faculty, and staff making sure their contact information is up to date to receive emergency alerts,” Self added. 

Sergeant Schlecht said similar school threat calls have been reported at campuses across the United States, though there is no confirmation that local law enforcement is working with federal agencies on these incidents. 

Bakersfield police is now taking the lead to investigate the caller’s whereabouts, as CSUB’S UPD does not have a long-investigation division.