The University of Richmond is considering improving its campus alert system.

On May 6, the private campus was locked down for more than four hours after witnesses reported seeing a man with a handgun in the library. The lockdown ended without incident, and a suspect was arrested one day later.

Since then, school officials have assessed their response and determined they could do better.

President Edward Ayers said one option is a new alarm system that would announce emergencies over a loudspeaker, such as "intruder on campus" or "fire in the dining hall."

A campus siren sounds only for tornadoes.

The university's existing system alerts student and faculty of an intruder through e-mails, but it is not mandatory to sign up for the alerts.