Editorial: Threats need to be taken seriously

The threats against Otago University should be treated seriously.

The Otago University campus was apparently a lot quieter than usual yesterday. Not surprising.

It's only days since 26-year-old Christopher Sean Harper-Mercer shot dead nine people at an Oregon community college and injured many others.

Despite happening scarily regularly these days, mass shootings in the US still get wide media coverage in this country, and this was no exception.

So when news broke on Tuesday night that a post in an online chat forum had claimed a mass shooting was being planned on the Dunedin campus, Harper-Mercer and Oregon would have been fresh in the minds of students and staff.

Would you have gone to class, were you a student?

It's easy to say yes and dismiss the threat as a simple copycat or cry for attention, or a bored teenager messing around on the internet.

But New Zealanders are increasingly realising our small country is not necessarily immune to horror. It may not be as easy to get hold of guns as it is in America, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. And everywhere in the world, including New Zealand, there are angry, ill and disaffected people.

So in my view, students could be excused for bunking off classes yesterday.

As the Otago campus stayed quiet yesterday, breaking news banners flashed across our computer screens as first Victoria in Wellington, then Massey in Palmerston North received threats.

Buildings were evacuated at both campuses and the public told to avoid the areas.

As at last night, nothing had come from the threats, nor was there any word on whether they were linked or an unlikely coincidence.

Odds are they were hoaxes, albeit unfunny ones.

Is it only a matter of time before a US-style campus shooting happens in this country? Maybe, maybe not.

But police and our educational institutes were right to treat the threats seriously.