COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) – South Carolina lawmakers met to discuss campus safety after three recent events: the assassination of conservative figure Charlie Kirk, a swatting hoax that locked down the USC Thomas Cooper Library and a string of threats against HBCUs across the southeast.

Leaders heard from law enforcement to assess security measures in place at the state’s public universities, as well as if new legislation or resources are needed to better protect students.

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

Members of the Higher Education Subcommittee said their focus was not on the incidents themselves, but on how prepared South Carolina schools should be.

“We’re looking at what is the incident itself, not the incident that happened in Utah last week or the one at USC in particular, but how prepared are we for things like this when they come to campus,” said Chairman of the Subcommittee, State Rep. Tim McGinnis (R – Horry).

One concern raised during the hearing was the presence of tall residential buildings near some campuses, which law enforcement officials said could present a security risk during events or protests. This comes after Charlie Kirk’s killer shot him from a rooftop of a tall building on a college campus.

“We have a 50-story housing unit, which provides 360 degrees view of the campus, including adjacent areas off campus. That’s very alarming,” said Dr. Richard Johnson, the 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.