ARKADELPHIA, Ark. (ABP) — Ouachita Baptist University instituted a campus lockdown Aug. 24 while police sought a fleeing bank-robbery suspect later apprehended near the campus.
Police captured a mud-covered Lamar Demond Holms shortly after noon on the banks of the Ouachita River near the university's soccer fields. He is suspected of robbing a US Bank branch two hours earlier, setting off a citywide scare in the 11,000-citizen community of Arkadelphia, Ark.
"An emergency situation in Arkadelphia this morning resulted in our securing the campus and bringing all students and employees indoors," OBU President Rex Horne said in a statement. "A bank robbery was reported and Arkadelphia police advised us to issue an alert. We did so promptly."
Horne added that everyone on campus was safe and "taking every precaution" throughout the emergency alert.
Officials at the Arkansas Baptist State Convention-affiliated school issued an initial alert at 10:29 a.m., notifying students, faculty and staff that police were searching for an armed-robbery suspect in the area behind two men's dorms near the edge of campus. A follow-up alert instructed individuals on campus to "please go inside the nearest building until further notice."
Following notification by Arkadelphia police that the suspect was in custody, university officials issued an all-clear message at 12:18 p.m. reporting that "the emergency situation has now ended. You may continue normal activities."
According to local media, Holms surrendered to officers without incident after a two-hour manhunt through the woods and riverbank near the university campus. Police indicated that an undisclosed amount of cash was recovered, along with a suspected robbery weapon that turned out to be a BB gun.
Keldon Henley, vice president for student services, said officials "were tremendously pleased" by the response of students and others on campus when the alert was announced. "The alert system operated effectively and we were able to clear the outside areas of campus very quickly," he said.
Ouachita developed an extensive campus emergency notification system including e-mail, text messages, outdoor loudspeakers, campus phone messages and computer pop-up alerts in 2007. Trennis Henderson, vice president for communications, said the university has used the system before to provide severe-weather information.
Henderson said the system was developed partly in response to the Virginia Tech campus shootings in April 2007, but the main motivation was "seeking to use available technology to help keep our students and campus as safe as possible."
"We have received several positive responses from students, parents and others about the effectiveness and timeliness of this week's campus alerts," Henderson said. "We are especially pleased that the situation was resolved quickly and safely."
Ouachita did not implement a similar lockdown when a shooting involving some non-students occurred on the campus perimeter in 2008, because by the time administrators learned of the incident the suspects were already under arrest. Afterward they notified students by e-mail and on the university website about what had happened and that no one was hurt.
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.