A “cruel hoax” despatched Villanova University college students sheltering into place on the primary day of orientation after a false report of an active shooter, the varsity’s president stated, prompting a large response by native and federal regulation enforcement as they labored to safe the campus.
No accidents have been reported and no weapons have been discovered, Peter M. Donohue, the university’s president, stated in a letter despatched to the campus neighborhood and obtained by NCS.
The first campus alert went out round 4:35 p.m. ET, throughout a gap mass, which was set to be adopted by a household picnic.
“ACTIVE SHOOTER on VU campus. Move to secure location. Lock/barricade doors. More info to follow,” learn an alert on the campus web site.
The nameless report indicated there was an active shooter within the Charles Widger School of Law and claimed no less than one individual was wounded, college and police officers stated.
“Panic and terror ensued” after the report, Donohue stated within the letter.
Police and hearth officers swarmed the area of the regulation college, with some armed officers on the roof, as they labored to clear buildings and search for a potential shooter or victims, video from NCS affiliate WPVI confirmed.
None have been discovered.
“While it is a blessing and relief, I know today’s events have shaken our entire community,” Donohue stated within the letter despatched simply after 6 p.m.
He apologized to first-year college students and their households.
“This is not the introduction to Villanova that I had hoped for you,” he stated.
New pupil orientation and registration started Thursday and is scheduled to go till Saturday, whereas courses start Monday, based on the school’s academic calendar.
The stories got here hours after the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga despatched an active-shooter alert and the campus went on lockdown. Police later stated the authorities discovered “no evidence of a threat.” Authorities are investigating the Tennessee incident as a potential case of swatting, a regulation enforcement supply informed NCS.
Swatting is a dangerous criminal hoax the place a false report is made to police with the categorical objective of luring them to a location, the place they’re led to imagine a horrific crime equivalent to a mass taking pictures, an imminent bombing, or hostage taking has been dedicated or is in progress.
This may end up in a forceful response from native police and SWAT groups, who haven’t any method to know the decision is a hoax.
Swatting has been on the FBI’s radar for nearly two decades, and gained notoriety after high-profile celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, Justin Bieber and Kim Kardashian grew to become victims. In a 2008 assessment of the “new phenomenon,” the FBI stated a group of just lately convicted swatters have been motivated by “bragging rights and ego, versus any monetary gain,” noting group members “did it because they could.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro stated he directed state police to “use every tool at our disposal” to seek out the individual answerable for the swatting incident.
“I know today was every parent’s worse nightmare, and every student’s biggest fear,” Shapiro stated in an X submit. “I am profoundly grateful no one was hurt, and thankful to all members of law enforcement who ran towards reports of danger to keep Pennsylvanians safe.”
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer echoed Shapiro’s sentiments.
“My office, Investigation Division, the FBI, will all work to try to get to the bottom of who might have done this,” Stollsteimer stated throughout a information convention Thursday. “We will track you down if it’s the last thing we do.”
Villanova is a personal Catholic university within the suburbs of Philadelphia and is the alma mater of Pope Leo XIV.
This story has been up to date with extra info.
NCS’s Josh Campbell, Danny Freeman and Amanda Musa contributed to this report.