Lockdown at URL lifted , probe continues into gunman report

Authorities have lifted a lockdown at the University of Rhode Island after a report of a gunman proved bogus at the leafy Kingston campus.

School officials said in a statement this afternoon that an investigation proved “at no time was there a gun or an active shooter on the campus,” roughly three hours after hundreds of panicked students went running from Chafee Hall, an arts and sciences building on campus, and police stormed in armed with assault rifles and bullet-proof gear to investigate, officials and witnesses say.

Col. Steven O’Donnell, head of the State Police, said in a statement that local, campus and state police responded to a phone call shortly after 11:20 a.m., reporting an active shooter on campus. Speaking in a phone interview aired on NECN, he said the call “was in reference to someone knocking on the door at Chafee Science Center saying, ‘I’m a good guy and I have a gun.’”

“We’re looking to track down the person who was the one who made those comments,” O’Donnell said.

Dispatcher Penney Hanson of the South Kingston Police told the Herald earlier that police were investigating an “isolated incident specific to one hall” on campus, but added that the building was “locked down and checked.”

Asked if police found anything relative to the report, Hanson said, “Nothing.” There were no reports of any injuries, she said.

“Everyone can resume their normal activities,” the school said in a statement shortly after 2 p.m.

Panic gripped the campus and Chafee Hall for hours earlier this morning and afternoon.

TaylorKinzler, a URI junior, Lakeville native and Miss Massachusetts 2012, said in a phone interview that she was on the second floor of the building this morning when she heard screams from a first-floor auditorium.

Quickly, an announcement came over the public address system telling students and staff to evacuate, sending more than a thousand students running from the seven-story building, Kinzler said. Almost immediately, roughly a dozen police officers “stormed” in toting assault rifles, she said.

“They did an amazing job getting reinforcements here and the police came immediately,” said Kinzler. At first, “we thought it was a joke. Nothing like this ever happened before. But once the alarm went off and people started running in the hallway ... It’s been very scary with all the recent shootings. We were just hoping everyone is OK.”

Kinzler said she and hundreds of other students were initially kept outside about 20 to 30 feet from the building before they were ushered into a nearby building as part of the campus-wide lockdown.

A campus alert had been blasted across the top of the university’s website earlier today warned people on campus to “seek shelter and stay where you are.”

The university posted on its official Twitter feed that campus police were on scene and officials activated an emergency alert system. As a precautionary measure, officials said they cancelled all classes today on the Kingston campus only. Regular classes will resume tomorrow.

“It’s all based on a rumor,” a URI police dispatcher said earlier this afternoon. “We are still in lockdown. It’s only a rumor at this time, but we have to work on rumors as well.”

The frenzy around the report inundated the university’s website, shutting down the homepage because of what officials called “extraordinarily high volume.”

Roughly two hours after she initially fled Chafee, Kinzler said she “started to calm down a little” after she learned no one was hurt and it appears the situation wasn’t as dire as it initially seemed. She added that even as hundreds fled, some staff members were caught on Chafee’s top floor, though they were since escorted out by police.

“The campus is completely bare right now,” she said. “But we know the situation is OK.”

Source: bostonherald

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