Gunfire erupted on Sunday near Raising Cane’s, prompting UK campus alerts and sending students fleeing.
Shots were fired around 1 a.m. on Nov. 3 on the corner of Winslow and S. Upper Street.
UK sent out alerts to inform students of the shooting, but the location details were left out of the first alert sent. The alert read, “URGENT: Shots fired in [location] AVOID THE AREA.”
Six minutes later, an alert was sent clarifying the location of the previous alert. The alert read, “Location of Last UK Alert is Winslow & Upper. Avoid The Area.”
About 20 minutes after the clarification alert, UK sent an alert informing students that “the emergency condition has passed and you may safely resume your regularly scheduled activity.”
A video circulating on social media filmed from an apartment complex, The Hub, shows people running out of Raising Cane’s toward The Hub, and away from Winslow Street.
A source who spoke to the Kernel on the condition of anonymity said that the window glass was shattered on the first floor of the Cornerstone Parking Structure by the Esports Lounge, noting there were several bullet holes through the window.
The source said if it had been hours earlier, the bullets could have hit students in the Esports Lounge.
“It is paramount that the University of Kentucky starts caring about the safety of this corner of campus, especially after ignoring multiple reported incidents over the past few months that should have necessitated a strong security presence,” the anonymous source said.
UK Spokesperson Jay Blanton confirmed that some of the shots that were fired during the incident at Raising Cane’s did hit the cornerstone building.
“We are staying in close touch with Lexington PD. Our departments are talking constantly,” Blanton said. “While Lexington PD is in charge of the investigation because of where it happened, with the proximity to campus we’re staying in very close contact with them.”
Blanton confirmed that no one was injured in the building.
Later on Sunday, UK posted a statement on social media explaining the mistake with the alerts.
“UKPD sent a UK Alert notifying the campus community that shots had been fired, but mistakenly omitted the location details,” the statement read. “UKPD quickly sent out a second alert to correct that mistake. We are sorry for the confusion that caused.”
The statement continued to say this is now an off-campus property investigation handled by the Lexington Police Department.
Currently, there are no victims with gunshot wounds reported, according to UKPD.
