[C]astleton University has asked students and staff to call 911 if they see a nursing faculty member accused of making violent threats toward members of the school community.
In an emergency alert sent out to the university community, the employee accused of making the threats was identified as Melissa Gorton. Keith Molinari, Castleton’s director of public safety, directed people to call 911 if she is spotted on campus.
Molinari reviewed a recording of Gorton making “specific threats of violence against targeted members of the Castleton community,” according to a news bulletin from communications coordinator Elicia Mailhiot. The video is believed to be two weeks old.
Mailhiot said in an email to VTDigger that the university is coordinating with local law enforcement on the matter.
“Castleton University has increased its public safety presence, with additional officer coverage from the Castleton and Fair Haven Police Departments on campus,” she wrote. “We are also aware of Gorton’s vehicle make and model.”
Mailhiot said information about the threat was brought to the university Wednesday morning by “someone familiar with Gorton.”
Gorton’s LinkedIn page says that she has been a clinical professor of nursing at Castleton for about a year. She’s also a clinical examiner at Excelsior College, an online college based in Albany, New York. She was previously on the faculty at the Memorial College of Nursing, also in Albany.
Anyone who sees Melissa Gorton on campus is asked to call 911 and then call Castleton Public Safety at (802) 468-1215.
