According to the Fox News website, “Officers were called about 8:50 p.m. Friday about a report of a shooting at the Cedar Village apartment complex, which is located less than a mile from the Michigan State campus.”

Although Fox News describes this incident as “less than a mile” away from MSU, Cedar Village Apartments actually are a mere tenth of a mile from the nearest MSU building. This would mean that this terrible crime being deemed an “off-campus” incident is a sheer technicality.

The shooting and eventual death of MSU student Dominique Nolff, as well as the shots fired on one other student, hits extremely close to home the Spartan community.

It is absolutely horrifying to witness such a tragedy happen to a person so young, and it terrifies me to think that this altercation occurred so close to where almost 50,000 students attend classes five days a week.

I was very disturbed to receive the university’s text message alert last Friday evening from MSU police.

I was hanging out at my girlfriend’s house and we looked up where the shooting allegedly happened. When I realized that the shooting had occurred just a street over from mine, I became very upset. I had no idea at the time who exactly was involved in the incident and was frightened that perhaps somebody who lived close to me had gotten shot.

I am devastated to observe such an act of violence occur essentially on-campus and right down the street from where I am currently living.

I am positive that all of our Spartan family is crushed to lose our fellow classmate and brother, for this event truly affects all of us in a serious way.

However, it should be known that this shooting incident is not the first reported crime in the area this year for MSU.

According to the MSU police website, “Police said they have had multiple strong-arm robberies that have occurred on the east side of campus this semester. In each of these cases, the suspects have approached the victims by asking for directions or about a cell phone before attempting to rob them of the phone or another item.”

In light of recent serious crimes in the community, it absolutely is critical for students to take these facts into consideration and be exceptionally cautious when heading anywhere to or from campus.
As with any tragedy, I have found that there always is a fleeting opportunity for something beautiful to be born out of unfortunate situations.

In the case of this shooting and with the loss of one of our fellow Spartans, it will be of utmost importance for the MSU community to band together and take a few steps forward to increase awareness of one another and of our surrounding environment.

Keep an eye out for your friends and neighbors. It is not by chance that we all find ourselves at MSU. It is a very special and miraculous privilege. The police cannot be everywhere at once, so we as students need to step up now more than ever.

We are one big Spartan family here at MSU; we all are sharing this amazing college experience. However, with all good things, there will always be some bad things that come along the way.
In lieu of recent events, it will be vital for us to start taking on a deeper sense of responsibility and view it as our civic duty to keep one another as safe as possible.

May many blessings and prayers find the families of the two shooting victims, and I truly hope to see a deepened sense of community as well as a strengthened sense of responsibility from all East Lansing citizens and MSU students in the coming weeks.

Nathan Belyk is a communication senior. Reach him at belyknat@msu.edu.