Georgia Gwinnett College was under an hours-long lockdown — and remained closed — Monday while Lawrenceville police searched for a man accused of killing his wife at a nearby apartment complex.
Lawrenceville police Capt. Jeff Smith said officers responded to the Hillcrest Greens apartment complex — located on Windy Hill Point, across Ga. 316 from the college campus — at about 9:40 a.m. They found 47-year-old Vanessa Soyer dead inside her apartment.
Warrants were issued charging her husband, 43-year-old Sheldon Soyer, with aggravated assault and felony murder, but he was not apprehended.
That fact triggered the lockdown at Georgia Gwinnett College. By 11 a.m., an alert was sent to students and staff urging them to shelter in place.
“The alleged shooter’s description and last know direction of travel indicated a risk to this campus,” GGC president Dr. Stanley Preczweksi said in a statement released Monday afternoon. “Accordingly, the campus alert system was activated and the campus was placed in a lockdown posture.”
Early in the afternoon, campus police began searching and clearing campus buildings. By about 2:45 p.m., the school announced that all buildings had been cleared.
Campus remained closed for the day, however, and students living on campus were asked to remain in their dorms.
“Meals will be delivered to the residents in their buildings, and additional security will be provided throughout this situation,” Preczewski’s statement said, adding that “guidance for the reopening of campus will be forthcoming as the unfolding situation indicates.”
» The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has written recently about how local authorities use technology and monitor social media to help protect students.
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