Suspicious vehicle leads to evacuations
A closer look into the emergency preparedness of our campuses
As the scene was released back to Campus Safety, a local tow company towed car away
July 7, 2026
The recent emergency at the Puyallup campus have some wondering what is Pierce’s policy on alerting students and faculty of emergency events that could directly affect them and the campus.
A suspicious vehicle was discovered, left in the middle of a walkway next to the library at Puyallup campus around 9 a.m., February 6. Upon further investigation of the vehicle, Campus Safety discovered a note and suspicious substance.
Officials then called 911 and Central Pierce Fire Department, Puyallup Police, and Sumner Police responded and took control of the scene around 10 a.m.
The Campus Security officer was taken to the hospital to be placed under observation due to contact with the unknown substance.
The Puyallup campus was shut down and evacuated by local police and Campus Safety. However, students were still coming to campus. There seemed to be a disconnect in the notification system.
Many students only found out first hand, at the Puyallup campus, by officials evacuating it, but others didn’t find out until they saw post on social media and information relayed by The Puyallup Post (Puyallup campus student newspaper) and local newspaper agencies.
“Safety is our number one concern. We want the electronic notifications to come out as soon as possible. We should had been faster with the notifications.” Brian Benedetti, Director of Marketing & Communications, said.
An official college wide e-mail did not come out until 12:33 p.m.
“The Pierce College Puyallup campus has evacuated and gone into suspended operations in response to a potential hazardous material threat. Police and Fire are on site and working with Campus Safety in joint command of the incident. Please do not come to campus. We will send out notifications when the campus reopens.” said in the an email from Chris MacKersie, District Director of Safety & Security.
The notifications problem came from an auto updating issue of the Everbridge Emergency Notification System. Not everyone recieved a noticifactions from the “Campus Safety Timely Warning.”
There will be a debrief this week with school, police, and fire officials with talks about to handle the entire situation better.
