Police are looking for information after reports of a shooting at the Motley East Residence Hall Thursday afternoon, later debunked by authorities, led to a massive police response and campus closure.
Officers from the UMass Boston Police Department, Boston Police Department, Massachusetts State Police and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded to the incident. In a statement shortly before 7 p.m. Thursday, Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco confirmed that the shooting was a false report.
“After a thorough investigation by university, Boston, and State Police — along with other emergency services — no evidence of any gunfire was found anywhere on campus or in any adjacent building and, thankfully, there have been no reports of injuries,” Suárez-Orozco wrote.
halls before pushing bystanders to the other side of the street, saying there had been a shooting. An investigation revealed no evidence of gunfire (Joshua Levin)
An alert sent at 3:40 p.m. advised to avoid the area around the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate due to a “police incident.” Boston Fire Department personnel also responded to that area. Seven minutes later, students and staff received a second alert as first responders raced toward the residence halls. “Police incident in/near Residence Hall East,” the alert said.
Another alert referred to the incident as a “public safety threat” at 4:01 p.m. “Students in the dorms stay in your rooms, do not answer the doors for anyone unless the it is the police,” the alert said. Officers outside the building rushed students across the street, saying there had been a shooting.
More than 40 police vehicles parked outside the residence halls as officers armed with rifles and handguns ran into the buildings wearing everything from patrol uniforms to T-shirts under ballistic vests. BPD’s SWAT team responded in an armored vehicle. A state police helicopter circled overhead. Personnel from the Boston Fire Department and Boston EMS also staged outside the residence halls in tactical gear.
Police evacuated lower floors of both residence halls at approximately 4:10 p.m. Students, some covered only by bath towels, exited the buildings with their arms raised and ran across the street as officers instructed.
A 4:14 p.m. alert declared a “police incident in/near Campus Center.” Students and staff in Campus Center were evacuated at approximately 4:30 p.m.
Another alert at 4:55 p.m. announced that classes and on-campus activities would be canceled for the remainder of the day while the investigation was ongoing. Police reported the incident all clear at 5:11 p.m. via the emergency alert system. Campus reopened Friday morning as scheduled.
Authorities have not confirmed whether they are investigating Thursday’s events as a swatting incident, where perpetrators call in false reports to provoke large-scale armed police responses. But law enforcement across the country has seen an uptick in swatting calls after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at an event on a college campus in Utah and a gunman at a high school in Colorado shot himself and two classmates on Wednesday afternoon. Don Beeler, CEO of TDR Technology Solutions, a company that sells threat prevention tools, told the AP that swatting attempts typically increase after violent events.
UMass Lowell cancelled classes following a lockdown Sept. 3 after reports of a person carrying a rifle on campus. Police later determined that the rifle was an airsoft gun.
Law enforcement responding to a swatting episode at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland on Thursday shot one midshipman in the arm after he struck an officer, who he believed was an active shooter entering his room, with a parade rifle.
The Associated Press reports that at least six historically Black colleges and universities reported threats Thursday, including Alabama State University, Bethune-Cookman University, Clark Atlanta University, Hampton University, Southern University and Virginia State University. The FBI referred to the incidents at HBCUs as “hoax threat calls” in a statement to NBC News. “The FBI takes these threats very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk,” the bureau stated.
“While we have no information to indicate a credible threat, we will continue to work with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to gather, share, and act upon threat information as it comes to our attention,” the FBI stated.
The incidents have not been isolated to college campuses. U.S. Capitol Police responded to a false bomb threat on the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington Thursday morning, the agency wrote in a press release. Democratic lawmakers and politicians in Michigan, Oregon, Maryland, New Mexico and Rhode Island also faced bomb threats.
“Law enforcement will continue to investigate this incident. Anyone with relevant information is asked to report it to Police,” Massachusetts State Police wrote in a statement.
Wrote Suárez-Orozco, “If you have information that could be helpful, please contact UMass Boston Police at 617-287-7780.”
Joshua Levin reported from the residence halls. Elijah Horwath contributed reporting from Campus Center. Bridget Lord contributed research. The Mass Media will continue to cover this story as it develops. Read live updates here.
