OU’s Mike Boettcher Reflects On Friday’s Swatting Call, School Safety

Friday’s active shooter alert on the University of Oklahoma’s campus once again raises questions about safety. The active shooter response reminded an OU professor of the combat zones he experienced overseas.

“In a situation like this, minutes mean lives,” said Mike Boettcher, OU journalism professor and former foreign network news correspondent. 

Boettcher saw the alert of an active shooter on campus and drove down to Norman to check on his students. 

“As I was driving down from Oklahoma City, I was being passed by one police car after another,” Boettcher said. “I turned on the lights and started shouting down the hallways, ‘Hey! This is Mike! Are you barricaded in here anywhere? Any students in here?’” 

Everyone learned the call was a hoax, but this conversation is real.   

“I’m angry,” Boettcher said.  

Friday’s scene reminded Boettcher of the security he had in Baghdad.  

“No this wasn’t Baghdad, this was Norman, Oklahoma,” Boettcher said. “That bothered me.”  

Boettcher has a story of his own as a decorated news correspondent in front of the camera in some of the most dangerous parts of the world.  

“Where there was civil conflict that was so extreme that the country unraveled,” Boettcher said.   

Since 2015, mass shootings have increased nationwide. Last year, in 2022 alone, over 600 people were killed, with over 2,700 wounded according to everytownresearch.org. 

Boettcher believes the solution to gun violence in the U.S. won’t come from people’s words.  

 “Thoughts and prayers are not enough,” Boettcher said. 

One question keeps haunting communities.  

“Is this the day our school is hit?” Boettcher said. 

A question Boettcher said his students shouldn’t have to ask.  

“Shouldn’t have to do that,” Boettcher said.