With shots being fired in the area just a few days ago, some students are concerned but still hopeful for Charleston’s safety.

According to a press release from the Charleston Police Department, at 1:51 a.m. Friday police received reports of shots being fired. They were not able to determine the location of the initial incident because numerous calls came in. A second shot was later fired that night approximately 30 minutes later at 1520 Edgar Drive.

Charleston has a population of over 21,000, and according to Safewise, was also announced as being one of the safest college towns in America, making the list at no. 2.

Alex Zamora, a senior communication studies major, said he feels safe in Charleston at times, but when shots are being fired along with fights, he cannot help but feel unsafe.

Zamora said the emails about police investigating gunshots have felt frequent to him. He said this is concerning because he has not heard of the police finding the suspects shooting off their gun.

Taylor Hatfield, a junior communication studies major, said she thinks Charleston officials do the best they can do to keep students and the community safe, but hearing gunshots or finding out that someone was jumped makes her feel nervous when being somewhere alone.

“You can’t really anticipate those kinds of things, but I do like being informed about what is happening around campus, so I would just want to make sure that students are being made aware of all situations so we can try to avoid them,” Hatfield said.

Hatfield is from a small town outside of Champaign and lives in an area where crime is usually uncommon. She said she is not used to living so close to where crimes are actually occurring.

Chris Wickell, a senior computer science major, said he feels safe in Charleston but believes that feeling is different for other people.

“I always have this opinion that people won’t hurt me as long as I can reason with them. Obviously this isn’t always true, but it’s how I feel,” Wickell said.

Wickell said there is not much else Charleston officials can do when it comes to increasing safety.

Adrian Bolaji can be reached at 581-2812 or aabolaji@eiu.edu.