A report of an active shooter at Villanova University in Pennsylvania on Thursday turned out to be a “cruel hoax,” according to the school president and the Delaware County district attorney.

Villanova University sent out a report of an active shooter in the Charles Widger School of Law around 4:30 p.m., advising people to move to a secure location and to lock and barricade doors.

In a letter to the community, Villanova University President Rev. Peter Donohue said that there were reports of a possible shooter at the law school during the school’s orientation Mass in the middle of campus.

Police from across Delaware County, Pennsylvania State Police and federal law enforcement responded to a possible active shooter situation at the university. At 5:47 p.m., Radnor police said there were no reported victims. 

“This is not an active shooter. What happened here today looks like it was a hoax,” Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said. “There was a call that came in around 4:30 p.m. to law enforcement, a 911 center, saying there was an active shooter in the building, in the law school building, and that there was a victim, at least one victim who was wounded. That has turned out not to be true. At this point, we believe there was nobody hurt. There was never an active shooting on the campus.”

Stollsteimer said law enforcement remains on scene investigating as the university begins to lift lockdowns.

“If this was indeed a cruel hoax, this is a crime,” Stollsteimer said. “We will track you down if it’s the last thing we do. … This campus right now is the safest place in Delaware County,” Stollsteimer said, “and we’re going to make sure over the days to come that this doesn’t happen again.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a post on X that he’s directed Pennsylvania State Police to “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,” Shapiro wrote. “I’m profoundly grateful no one was hurt, and thankful to all members of law enforcement who ran towards reports of danger to keep Pennsylvanians safe.”

Thursday was “opening day” at Villanova, which included a family resource fair and info sessions, orientation, opening Mass and a family picnic, according to a schedule posted on the university’s website.

“Amid my thanks, I would like to apologize to our first-year students and their families,” Donohue said in the letter to the community. “This is not the introduction to Villanova that I had hoped for you. And while I cannot do anything to relieve the unrest that you are feeling right now, I can offer a prayer.”

Villanova, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga each had false shooting threats

Before Villanova issued an alert for a possible active shooter on campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga issued an alert for a possible active shooter just after 1 p.m. 

Hours later, UTC said the reported active shooter was “was determined to be a false threat.” 

The post said there was no evidence of a shooting and no injuries were reported. 

All classes and activities will resume at UTC on Friday. 

Josh Sanders,

Joshua Sidorowicz,

Raymond Strickland,

Ben Payne and

Joe Holden

contributed to this report.

More from CBS News

Tom Dougherty

Tom Dougherty is a digital content producer for CBS Philadelphia. Before joining CBS Philadelphia, Tom covered sports for NBC Sports Philadelphia. He currently covers breaking news and sports.