University faculty mistake umbrella for a gun, school shutdown for hours
North Carolina A&T State University eventually was given the “all clear” following a report of a man armed with a gun in a campus building Tuesday morning. Five buildings were also evacuated and two nearby high schools were locked down.
photo Wim Vandenbussche via Flickr
A&T police said they found no evidence of a gunman, and they don’t believe there was ever a gunman. Campus police received two calls just before 10 a.m. that stated an unknown Hispanic male was carrying a rifle in the General Classroom Building, NC A&T officials said.
WXII summarizes the police reportst that state “two faculty members reported seeing a man carrying a backpack that had the outline of a possible shotgun. Neither a suspect nor a weapon was found, and campus officials said later that day that the witnesses may have mistaken an umbrella for a gun.”
The school was locked down for three hours and students were contacted to stay away.
Messages issued by the campus alert system and the university’s Twitter feed has advised students to “shelter in place.” Classes at the school are canceled until 2 p.m.
“If you are off campus do not come to campus,” the university posted on its Twitter account.
The News & Record of Greensboro reported that students cleared from the area on lockdown packed the Student Union building as an alarm blared across the campus. Some students were seen leaving campus in their cars while others walked around despite the warnings.
AP coverage noted that the A&T was a “historically black university,” but doesn’t state how that’s relevant to the story.
