Gunshots reported at Columbia
College officials are investigating a fight that started after performance

Andrew J. Scott/The Chronicle Columbia freshman Dominique Dov Vernard (left) argues with a police officer responding to calls placed by security April 22 in the Wabash Campus Building, 623 S. Wabash Ave., after a fight erupted following a talent performance. Vernard told The Chronicle he was trying to break up the fight.

By Andrew Greiner and Scott Carlson
News Editors

Reports of gunfire brought at least nine police cars to a student talent show in at a Columbia building April 22, according to a spokeswoman from the Chicago Police Department’s News Affairs Department.

College officials said the incident is under investigation.

Security officers in the Wabash Campus Building, 623 S. Wabash Ave., placed calls to the police department, and reported gunshots and gang activity after the “Biggest Mouth” event, a police spokeswoman said. College officials said the incident is under investigation.

The calls were made in response to a fight, that reportedly broke out during a talent show in the Hokin Gallery. The event was stalled after two individuals allegedly started fighting at the show, which eventually spilled out in front of the building.

The spokeswoman said that when police arrived on the scene, the fight stopped and the crowds scattered. No suspects were arrested, and no damage was reported.

According to one witness at the scene, the scuffle started at approximately 9:20 p.m. when two men started pushing each other on the street outside the doors of the Wabash Campus Building.

The fight escalated when one of the men pushed the other into a parked car on Wabash Avenue. Columbia security guards did not try to break up the fight, witnesses said.

As a crowd gathered, the fight moved south on Wabash Avenue and eventually to the corner of Wabash and Balbo Street, just south of George’s Cocktail Lounge, 646 S. Wabash Ave.

At that point police vehicles arrived at the corner. The police spokeswoman said that the police initially received multiple calls that shots were fired at the scene. At least two of the calls came from the college’s four security officers at the scene.

Dominique Dov Vernard, a freshman audio arts and acoustics major at Columbia, said he tried to break up the fight. It is unclear whether the two unidentified men were Columbia students, although Vernard did indicate that the event draws crowds from area colleges.

Vernard, who said he frequently attends the monthly open-mic night event, said that such fights are common during and after “Big Mouth.” But, he said that he did not hear any shots fired.

Micki Leventhal, Columbia’s director of media relations, also said that no shots were fired.

Mark Kelly, vice president of Student Affairs at Columbia, said that an investigation is underway and that early evidence suggests that the two men were Columbia students. Kelly said the school will continue to follow up on the incident, and deal with it accordingly.

Julie Caffey, assistant director of C-Spaces, who puts on the monthly “Big Mouth” events, said that even though there are students from other colleges frequently in attendance, there is usually no trouble.
“Students can bring friends,” Caffey said. “[But] someone with the friends must have a valid Columbia College ID.”

Sharod Smith, a senior business major at Columbia, set up the event, which he said differs from the monthly open-mic night. He said “Biggest Mouth” was a schoolwide talent show, and the contestants were selected through an audition process. Around 85 percent of the 250-person crowd was Columbia students, Smith said.

“Whenever you get a lot of people together, there is a possibility for someone to say something,” said president of Student Government Association, Justin Kulovsek. “And whenever there is a communication gap, there is a possibility for violence.”

The April 22 incident raises continued issues about safety on Columbia’s campus. Columbia’s security guards are contracted employees of SDI security and must undergo 20 hours of training at a state-licensed school. SDI Security Inc., headquarters for Columbia’s security had no record of the incident.

Columbia’s security officers only have jurisdiction immediately inside the college’s 12 South Loop buildings. Incidents outside of Columbia buildings, such as the April 22 incident, fall under the jurisdiction of the Chicago Police Department.

As reported in the April 19 edition of The Chronicle, police responded to two calls outside Columbia’s Residence Center, 731 S. Plymouth Court, April 6 and 8. One call reportedly involved a person with a gun. College officials refused to speak openly about the incident, saying only that an investigation was in place.

Ashley Winston, a resident adviser in the college’s Residence Center, said that she thinks Columbia’s security officers are not sufficiently prepared for violent incidents.

“They just need to be trained for the worst case scenario,” said Winston, a junior theater major who has lived in the dorms for the past two years.

Winston questioned how the college handles incidents like the April 22 fight.

“They don’t want it to look bad. … Then don’t have it look bad,” Winston said.

College officials gathered April 23 to discuss the fight, although The Chronicle was not permitted to attend the meeting.

As of press time no school security officials returned phone calls from The Chronicle.

—Chris Coates contributed to this report.