In response to the shooting of Arts & Sciences junior Eric Nippoldt, the Creighton University Students Union, the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Council hosted an open forum on violence Wednesday evening in the Harper Center Ballroom. Students voiced frustration at the lack of off-campus security and university and city leaders discussed solutions, but didn’t reach a formal conclusion about how to solve the problem of violence.

Nippoldt was shot in the chest after he was approached by three men at 31st and Chicago streets, according to the Omaha Police Department.

Nippoldt was taken to Nebraska Medical Center and no suspects have been identified.

He is a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity and was parking in front of the fraternity house, where he lives, when the incident occurred. The police report stated Nippoldt is in stable condition, but no other information has been released.

Chris Foster is a 23-year resident of the Gifford Park neighborhood, where the shooting occurred, and has been a longtime member of the neighborhood association.

Foster says incidents of violence – including beatings, shootings and domestic disputes – have increased over the last three weeks. After this last shooting, Foster, who stays in regular contact with city officials, wrote an e-mail to various Omaha leaders asking for increased police presence.

“We really do feel that the neighborhood is so much better than what this activity tends to lead to,” Foster said on Monday. “I certainly understand the frustration and concern about safety. It’s more than a neighborhood problem. It’s a city problem.”

Molly Borgmann, Arts & Sciences junior, who lives at 42nd and Davenport streets, said the shooting has caused some fear among Creighton students.

“It’s scary that it’s happening so close to where I live,” she said in an interview on Wednesday. “There are a lot of things that should be done. Public Safety and the city need to meet so they can talk about what they can do.”

Capt. Alex Hayes of the Omaha Police Department’s northwest precinct said there are a mixture of violent crimes that have been occurring in the neighborhood for a long period of time, including gang violence, robberies and domestic violence.

Because of the difference in the nature of the crimes, he said it has been difficult to allocate the correct number and types of resources. For instance, gang violence may be curved by predicting where the incident will occur, but a rash of robberies may be decreased by police presence.

Patricia Sullivan, director for the Center for the Study of Children’s Issues, stressed the fact that violence is a human problem and is not a result of one ethnic group or nation.

“There’s a prejudice and bias that it’s only in one neighborhood in Omaha and that’s just not true,” she said.

Many students at the forum said the university should be taking some responsibility for the incident by either increasing Public Safety’s presence off-campus or providing funding for off-campus safety measures.

But Rick McAuliffe, director of Public Safety, said increasing off-campus patrols is not an option because of the lack of resources.

“One of the most important things we can do is in terms of awareness,” he said. “To make people aware of the activity that happens.” McAuliffe said students can ask Public Safety to visit their homes to recommend security improvements and to report suspicious behavior.

Dr. John Cernech, vice president of Student Affairs, said student safety off-campus is a complex issue and requires the cooperation of the university, the neighborhood associations and the city.

“It’s all across the country. It’s all across the world. It’s not just a Creighton problem,” he said. “It’s not just an Omaha problem. This is not something we haven’t looked at for years, but it gets back to individual involvement. Individuals paying attention.”

Cernech said he would be talking to the Rev. John P. Schlegel, S.J., university president, and Dan Burkey, vice president for Administration & Finance, about the issue within the coming week to discuss a solution to ease student concerns. Although a definitive solution to the problem of violence was not reached, students were able to voice concerns.

Paula Hutchinson, a panel member from Sen. Brad Ashford’s office, said everyone should be trying to reach a long-term solution.

“If we go with the paradigm that we need to get these people out, they are just going to move somewhere else. But they are still a part of your community,” she said. “What we do is we change the norm and this is a proven method to make the neighborhood safer.”