Sacramento State University Police stormed Draper Hall this afternoon with guns drawn in search of two active shooters.

The incident was a staged test of the emergency notification system. The system is designed to help notify and assist the campus community in emergency situations.

Police cordoned Draper Hall off at about 1 p.m. The incident began shortly before 2:30 p.m.

Felix Barba, director of Arts and Letters for Associated Students Inc., received the first text message four minutes after the first emergency call came in.

About 20 minutes later, police gave the all-clear. Within five minutes, Barba received an all-clear text message on his cell phone.

The department went to great lengths to simulate a real emergency. Air Force ROTC students from Sac State volunteered to be victims as well as the shooters. The actors simulated gunshot wounds using red food coloring, yogurt and chocolate.

By 3 p.m., the police tape had come down and campus police began to discuss the successes and failures of the system. The text message notification system worked as expected, several observers said.

President Alexander Gonzalez experienced one of the few glitches of the day. The system notified his office, but did not send a text message to his phone. This glitch was corrected before the exercise was completed.

In order to receive text message alerts about emergency situations on campus, students must register. Registration can be done by going to www.csus.edu/ENS. The emergency notification system also distributes e-mails to all students through individual Saclink accounts.

Derek Fleming can be reached at [email protected]

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Claire Elise Padgett can be reached at [email protected].