AUSTIN, TEXAS — Police arrested a man near the University of Texas at Austin campus Monday night in connection to a stabbing. The UT Austin Police department tweeted out updates, but many students took to social media to complain that they didn't receive enough alerts from the University.
A student replied to UT Austin Police's tweet, asking for a reason behind the lack of text or email alerts.
UTPD responded by saying the incident, which was at 27th Street and Whitis Avenue, "did not occur on UT campus."
On KVUE's Facebook post about the stabbing, UT mother Stephanie Bodney Levine commented, "Why does my freshman not know of this?!"
Another commenter, Jenni Sewell Brayton, said, "And once again UT students have received no direct notification. Really unforgivable."
Facebook user Veronica Keaton-Barker replied to this, and commented, "Really sad, Jenni. That the local news media picked up on the Tweet but nothing to the students but a general tweet."
The University of Texas officials told KVUE that they didn't send out a text alert because the crime didn't happen on campus, it wasn't a felony crime, and it wasn't an ongoing threat to students.
The UT police chief sent out a formal letter on Facebook Tuesday afternoon addressing the concerns of students and their families.
UTPD said they "followed its current protocol" by not sending an emergency text or email and took to social media instead to report the public in real time exactly what officers were hearing as they responded to the call.
An emergency notification text from UTPD is sent when immediate action is required by the UT community members, UTPD said. An example of this would be in an active shooter situation to alert individuals to hide or find shelter, according to UTPD.