UK Alert was not used after a man reportedly confronted a woman on campus and implied he had a weapon, because no imminent threat was posed to the community, university officials said.

At 5:56 a.m. Friday, a female resident of the Shawneetown Apartments reported an attempted robbery near the Building E mailboxes to UK Police. The police crime log states that a male subject “followed her to her mailbox, she yelled and he ran off, wants to speak with an officer, is quite scared.”

UK Public Relations announced the safety alert in a broadcast e-mail and on the university’s Web site at about 8:30 a.m. University officials decided not to use the UK Alert system, which sends text messages, e-mails, voicemails and other electronic messages to those signed up whenever an emergency occurs on, or in some cases near, campus.

“That’s usually used only when people need to take action right at that time,” said spokeswoman Kathy Johnson.

When something happens at UK and officials feel they have to notify students, several options are available. The quickest method is when UK Police can issue the UK Alert immediately upon receiving word of a report. If the incident is not urgent, UK Police passes the news onto the Office of Emergency Management.

The Office of Emergency Management assesses the situation and sends an e-mail to an internal list of people and calls the on-duty public relations officer, Johnson said.

UK Public Relations received word of the attempted robbery report at 7:11 a.m., about an hour after the incident occurred, said Therese Smith, the Office of Emergency Management employee who was notified by UK Police at about 7 a.m.

UK Alert was not issued because it was determined this particular incident did not pose the level of threat that would warrant that level of response, Smith said in an e-mail to the Kernel. Procedures for the system are outlined online at the FAQ section of the UK Alert Web site, (www.uky.edu/ukalert).

Interim Police Chief Maj. Joe Monroe could not be reached by phone or e-mail Sunday to comment on why UK Alert wasn’t used.

Johnson said the time delay was most likely because when UK Police and the Office of Emergency Management decided students did not need immediate notification, they wait until more facts are known.

“If it’s an active shooter, it’s going to be really short,” Johnson said. “ … What we’ve sent out is going to be more in-depth, so it’s going to take more time.”

As of Saturday, no suspect has been apprehended in connection to the robbery.

The suspect is described as a white male in his mid-20s with a beard. He was last seen wearing a red and white checked or plaid shirt or a jacket and blue jeans. He may have fled the area in a dark-colored vehicle.

UK Police requests anyone with information call (859) 257-1616 or #UKPD (#8573) from a cell phone.

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