Some students were frustrated, others panicked. All of them were uncertain. Mostly, they took pictures to send to group chats and added footage of police cars flocking to Castle Court to their Snapchat stories. For about three hours, students speculated, but also feared the worst without official word from Syracuse University’s Department of Public Safety.

Around 10:52 p.m. on Sunday, an altercation between an armed man and a Syracuse Police Department officer ended with the man shot and dead in Walnut Park. This took place near the 600 block of Walnut Ave., where hundreds of Syracuse University students live in apartment complexes, Greek housing and university housing. And no Orange Alert was sent out.

Looking at the harm this prolonged period of confusion caused, the three hours it took for the university to acknowledge the shooting incident is unacceptable. When reaching out to the student body is as easy as emailing a listserv, there is no reason for such a large time lapse between the shooting itself and acknowledgement by SU.

What’s more is DPS Chief Bobby Maldonado released an email statement Monday morning to address student, faculty and parents’ burning question: Where was the Orange Alert? The answer given by DPS is the Orange Alert system is reserved for situations that pose an “active threat.”

Given there was a shootout and a man died right outside an area densely populated by SU students, it’s time to reevaluate what kinds of situations warrant an Orange Alert.

The core purpose of the Orange Alert is to inform the SU community when there is danger. And given the frequency of mass shootings on college campuses, timely communication from an authority figure would have helped students make sense of the caution tape, the flashing lights and what circulated on Twitter.

The Orange Alert sent out last year during the campus lockdown issued in response to a shooting situation two miles from campus was confusing and poorly handled on behalf of DPS. But the lack of a clear and timely one this year is simply irresponsible.