President Gary Ransdell defended the Western officials’ response to unconfirmed reports of armed men on South Campus and shots fired at Pearce-Ford Tower yesterday.

He said in a press conference Thursday morning that he’s pleased that the emergency communication system worked and that officials responded quickly.

“Any threat or aggressive behavior will be taken seriously,” he said. “I must state that uncontrolled aggressive behavior in this world of catastrophic events has consequences which often go beyond the individuals involved.”

All five students who were detained and interviewed yesterday in relation to the incident, which turned out to be a physical fight that started on South Campus and continued near PFT, deny participation and have been released, Ransdell said.

But the information police did get from the students was helpful, he said.

Campus Police Chief Robert Deane said the names of the students aren’t being released.

Police are continuing the investigation, he said. The report of two witnesses later in the day that there were shots fired haven’t been validated by other witnesses.

Kim Carter, Louisville, addressed police at the press conference and said her son and daughter told her that police pointed guns in their faces for no reason.

Carter, who was visibly upset, said her daughter was so shaken up that she wanted to drop out of Western.

“I want to take action for my children’s civil rights,” she said.

Deane said he would speak with Carter and see how police could resolve the situation.

Ransdell said officials acted appropriately in sending text messages warning of armed men and shots fired because that was the information they had.

Western will be working on finding an effective way to communicate in the absence of cell phones because reception was weak because of a system jam caused by the high amount of calls being made, he said.

Reach Michelle Day at news@chherald.com.