Notre Dame students discuss safety on and off campus

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Safety concerns have taken center stage at Eddy Street Commons. Back-to-back weeks of shots-fired incidents, near game-day crowds, have some worried about the area ahead of Saturday's matchup, where the Fighting Irish take on Boise State.

Meanwhile, zombies descended onto the University of Notre Dame Thursday.

"The premise of the whole program is, if you're prepared for a zombie apocalypse, you can be prepared for anything," said Notre Dame Fire Chief Bruce Harrison.

The zombies, a.k.a. faculty and law enforcement in grotesque makeup, engaged students in a survival and campus safety demonstration on the north side of Notre Dame Stadium.

"How to use a fire extinguisher, how to use an AED for a cardiac arrest, there's a CPR station, there's a stop the bleed station," Harrison said.

Students who spoke with ABC57's Annie Kate told her they feel safe at Notre Dame.

"Notre Dame in general just feels so safe, because events like this really help you feel like the community's all there," said sophomore Hetvi Patel.

Meanwhile, just off campus, Eddy Street Commons has seen back-to-back shots-fired incidents on busy game day weekends, and the university has refused to address either instance in a public comment with ABC57 News.

However, students said the university did acknowledge the situation with them.

"I guess it is a little concerning to hear, especially on football weekends, when the campus is more packed than normal, and that these activities are going on," said senior Patrick Dolan. "But at the same time, we received emails from high school officials, letting us know that these things are under control, that there's going to be extra security in these areas to make sure this isn't happening again, that everyone who wants to go to Eddy Street is safe."

ABC57 obtained a copy of the email that went out to students, sent Sept. 26, alerting the campus of the recent dangers. 

Many students say they are not deterred from enjoying Eddy Street Commons.

"Whenever I go, it's usually during the day, and I feel pretty safe; it feels like I'm still at school," said sophomore Shivani Modha.

"It wouldn't deter me from going to Eddy Street," Dolan said, "but definitely, just a heightened level of security being around there, in case something might happen again."