Reports of active shooters on Thursday forced both the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Villanova University in Pennsylvania to briefly lock down their campuses before investigators learned they were false reports.
In Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro said reports of an active shooter at Villanova was a result of a "cruel swatting incident," in which someone calls in a fake threat to induce panic and police response.
"Swatting is illegal," Shapiro said in a statement. "I've directed [Pennsylvania State Police] to work alongside their partners and use every tool at our disposal to find the person or people who called in this fake threat and hold them accountable."
"I know today was every parent's nightmare, and every student's biggest fear," he added. "I'm profoundly grateful no one was hurt, and thankful to all members of law enforcement who ran towards reports of danger to keep Pennsylvania safe."
The announcement came after students and people in the area were urged to shelter in place and lock and barricade all doors as police investigated. Additional reports advised the public to stay away from the law school and video shared on social media showed crowds of people being rushed into buildings.
Villanova University — located about 15 miles outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — is a private Catholic University that got heightened attention earlier this year, as it's the college Pope Leo XIV attended. New student orientation reportedly began earlier on Thursday and classes for the fall semester are scheduled to start on Monday.
"Today, as we are celebrating Orientation Mass to welcome our newest Villanovans and their families to our community, panic and terror ensued with the news of a possible shooter at the Law School,” Villanova President Rev. Peter M. Donohue said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. “Mercifully, no one was injured and we now know it was a cruel hoax.”
Earlier in the day, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga also went into lockdown, with the school issuing alerts to students telling them to run, hide, and fight, because of a possible active shooter at the University Center.
However, after multiple law enforcement agencies responded, the lockdown was lifted roughly an hour later because no evidence of an active threat was found.
