LSU's Emergency Text Alert Fails to Reach Everyone Signed Up for the Service

Thursday night's murders were the first test for LSU's new emergency notification system. Campus officials say some parts of the system worked, but others did not.  LSU Chancellor Sean O'Keefe says they tried three ways to alert students as to what was happening:  e-mail, phone calls, and text messaging. The university started this text messaging alert right after the Virginia Tech massacre. However, of the school's 30,000 students, only 8,000 signed up, and the text sent Friday morning didn't reach everyone.

A scene like Thursday night's double homicide hasn't happened at LSU since the early 90s, when a drive-by shooting took lives on Nicholson. LSU Chancellor Sean O'Keefe says before daybreak, the alerts were sent that two students had been shot in the head and killed inside an apartment. A fellow grad student says he got the e-mail, but not the text.

Earlier this year, the university urged students to sign up for the text alert system, but not very many did. This double murder is the first time the university has sent out a mass text alert. Before now, they've only tested it among small groups. Simply sending a message isn't enough for some people. "I think LSU needs to do something to have a cop here 24/7 for me to feel safe at all," one resident says.

The university is working with its vendor, trying to figure out what failed. Chancellor O'Keefe says the university plans to more aggressively urge students to join the text alert.

Reporter:  Tyana Williams, WAFB 9NEWS