Several Muslim groups are calling for an investigation and an apology from University of Central Florida police, saying the department was wrong to use the term "Middle Eastern" in early warnings about what was going on at the campus library Tuesday.
A social media post about a woman with a gun praying inside the library sent the campus into a frenzy.
When the incident began about 4 p.m. Tuesday, UCF police originally tweeted: “Possible Middle Eastern gunman/woman in UCF main campus library. Avoid the area.”
But UCF Police Chief Richard Beary is standing by the messages that went out on campus.
Beary said mistakes happen, and he's promising to re-examine what happened Tuesday on campus.
Beary said the department shared the information it was supposed to.
"When they responded to the situation, they did a great job.," Maha Qureshi, future president of UCF Muslim Student Association, said.
Qureshi told Channel 9 she's happy UCF police were there in what could have been a time of danger.
But she wishes they had been more sensitive to the message, in light of the meetings they've been having since the start of the school year.
UCF police said they started receiving more calls, including a description of the person as looking “Middle Eastern” and with a gun inside the library.
"After putting in all of those efforts for the past year, trying to raise awareness about what Islam is, the proper way to address these sort of issues, to have this kind of response, was actually disheartening and very disappointing," Qureshi said.
Beary said 911 callers were using descriptions like “Muslim and Middle Eastern.”
"It wasn't meant to be insensitive or anything like that. Again, these are time-sensitive situations," Beary said. "And if we make a mistake along the way, because we're acting quickly to save lives, I'm sorry."
The original tweet about the ”possible Middle Eastern gunman/woman” was deleted.
A department spokesperson said the tweet was deleted in “the heat of the moment,” and that it was a mistake.
Cox Media Group
