El Centro College Set to Open Its Doors Tomorrow

Dallas (WBAP/KLIF News) – El Centro College’s downtown Dallas campus building will open up again tomorrow for faculty and staff, then classes will resume there Thursday.

President Jose Adames told reporters who toured the building it’ll be tough to come back to the building, which is still being repaired after the shooting on July 7^th, but there will be help.

“When we open up the campus for our personnel, our employees, there will be professional counseling from our own staff, as well as from our sister colleges.

Adames stressed that El Centro at no time shut down; that classes that normally meet in downtown Dallas were held at other locations.

Police Chief Joseph Hanigan led reporters on a tour of the building. He said the night of July 7th started like any other, then it turned into chaos. But he says his officers did a great job reacting to a quickly changing situation.

“We were trying to gather intelligence, it’s coming in in pieces and we’re trying to put it together,” said Hanigan. “It’s like any chaotic event; you don’t get a better taste for it until the event’s over, you’re able to calm down and review it.”

He said his officers’ training kicked in just when it needed to, and the teamwork between the El Centro Police, the Dallas Police, and DART Police definitely saved lives.

The building itself is still undergoing repairs. Hanigan took reporters to the place where Micah Johnson barricaded himself and shot it out with officers. Bullet holes still riddle the drywall, floor and door frames, and electrical wires and conduits still hand from the ceiling.