Lawmakers in South Carolina gathered to address campus safety concerns following three notable incidents: the assassination of conservative leader Charlie Kirk, a swatting hoax that resulted in a lockdown at USC’s Thomas Cooper Library, and a series of threats targeting HBCUs throughout the southeast.

Officials engaged with law enforcement to evaluate the current security protocols at the state’s public universities and to consider whether new laws or resources are necessary to enhance student protection.

During the hearing, officials and campus police chiefs across the state shared their current protocols.

The Higher Education Subcommittee emphasized that their primary concern wasn’t the specific incidents, but rather the state of preparedness of South Carolina’s colleges.

“Our focus is on the preparedness for such incidents, not particularly what occurred in Utah last week or the situation at USC. We want to ensure readiness for similar situations,” stated Subcommittee Chairman, State Rep. Tim McGinnis (R – Horry).

A key issue brought up during the meeting was the location of tall residential buildings adjacent to some campuses. Law enforcement noted that these structures could pose a security risk during events or demonstrations, especially highlighted by Charlie Kirk’s assassination from a rooftop on a college campus.

“A 50-story residential building offers a comprehensive view of the campus and the surrounding areas, which is quite concerning,” expressed Dr. Richard Johnson, Chief of Public Safety at South Carolina State University.

Johnson said his department is lacking resourced and understaffed, which he said poses a major challenge when trying to maintain 24/7 coverage and rapid emergency response capabilities.

“Currently in our department, we have ten sworn officers. The ideal maximum number would be at least 20 to work shift,” Johnson said. “We definitely need additional, personnel. We definitely need additional funds.”

SLED reported that between 2024 and 2025, agents have assisted at nearly 80 university events statewide. They said there is legislation that can help them assist university law enforcement.

“Some swatting legislation that is actually more stringent, a lot of these swatting calls happen from people outside the state so to be able to actually extradite those individuals back to South Carolina so they can be charged [and] to have funding to map the universities so as they continue to grow; like we saw a few weeks ago with USC, so responders know where they are going,” said Captain Brandon Landrum with SLED Protective Services/Emergency Management Unit.

USC’s Chief of Police, Christopher L. Wuchenich, said they are currently reviewing safety protocols following the recent swatting hoax, and emphasized the importance of learning from every event.

“As we improve the bad guys improve and it’s a continuously changing environment,” he said. “Every event concludes with an after action. Depending on the scope, this may range from an officer filing a report to a multi-agency debrief. We treat these reviews very seriously.”

All five public universities represented at the hearing said they are open to developing mandatory safety training to help students know what to do in an emergency.

State Representative Shannon Erickson (R – Beaufort), who chairs the committee said the training is a no brainer. She added that revamping South Carolina’s swatting bill is now a legislative priority in light of recent events.