\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFalse reports of active shooters at Villanova University and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Thursday led to panic and temporary lockdowns at the two campuses as they kicked off their fall semesters.In Pennsylvania, someone called 911 at about 4:30 p.m., reporting a shooter in a Villanova law school building with at least one wounded victim. Students received texts from the school’s alert system saying \u201cACTIVE SHOOTER on VU campus. Move to secure location. Lock\/barricade doors.\u201dThe school’s president later said it was a hoax.Related video above: The district attorney comments on the situation and investigation\u201cToday, as we are celebrating Orientation Mass to welcome our newest Villanovans and their families to our community, panic and terror ensued,\u201d the Rev. Peter M. Donohue said in a statement. \u201cMercifully, no one was injured and we now know it was a cruel hoax.\u201dAbout four hours earlier, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga locked down its campus, telling students: \u201cPossible active shooter in the University Center or Library. Run. Hide. Fight. More info forthcoming.\u201dVideo below: A large law enforcement presence was seen on the campus Thursday afternoonAfter multiple law enforcement agencies including the FBI responded alongside local fire and emergency crews, the lockdown was lifted less than an hour later. School officials said there was no evidence of any threat.At Villanova, where new student orientation was underway and classes begin next week, a call came in reporting a man with an AR-15-style weapon, Delaware County spokesperson Michael Connolly said in a statement. There were also \u201cmultiple\u201d calls with gunshot-like sounds in the background, and about 30 minutes after the initial call, someone called to report a gunshot wound.The initial report sent police scouring the campus and even had some law enforcement officials suggesting they believed there was a shooter.\u201cI know today was every parent\u2019s nightmare and every student\u2019s biggest fear,\u201d Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said on the social platform X.Shapiro told state police to use all tools available \u201cto find the person or people who called in this fake threat and hold them accountable.\u201dCourtenay Harris Bond was walking near the law school with her husband and son, a freshman, when word spread of the supposed shooting.\u201cReally tough way to start freshman year at college,\u201d she said shortly after getting the all-clear to leave the bookstore where the family spent the lockdown.Villanova is a private Catholic university in the Philadelphia suburbs. It borders Lower Merion Township and Radnor Township at the center of the city\u2019s wealthy Main Line neighborhoods.The Augustinian school got extra attention this year as the alma mater of new Pope Leo XIV.___Casey reported from Boston, and Ramer from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press journalists Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Mingson Lau and Tassanee Vejpongsa in Villanova; Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee; and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tVILLANOVA, Pa. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
False reports of active shooters at Villanova University and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Thursday led to panic and temporary lockdowns at the two campuses as they kicked off their fall semesters.<\/p>\n
In Pennsylvania, someone called 911 at about 4:30 p.m., reporting a shooter in a Villanova law school building with at least one wounded victim. Students received texts from the school’s alert system saying \u201cACTIVE SHOOTER on VU campus. Move to secure location. Lock\/barricade doors.\u201d<\/p>\n
The school’s president later said it was a hoax.<\/p>\n
Related video above: The district attorney comments on the situation and investigation<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, as we are celebrating Orientation Mass to welcome our newest Villanovans and their families to our community, panic and terror ensued,\u201d the Rev. Peter M. Donohue said in a statement. \u201cMercifully, no one was injured and we now know it was a cruel hoax.\u201d<\/p>\n
About four hours earlier, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga locked down its campus, telling students: \u201cPossible active shooter in the University Center or Library. Run. Hide. Fight. More info forthcoming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Video below: A large law enforcement presence was seen on the campus Thursday afternoon<\/p>\n
After multiple law enforcement agencies including the FBI responded alongside local fire and emergency crews, the lockdown was lifted less than an hour later. School officials said there was no evidence of any threat.<\/p>\n
At Villanova, where new student orientation was underway and classes begin next week, a call came in reporting a man with an AR-15-style weapon, Delaware County spokesperson Michael Connolly said in a statement. There were also \u201cmultiple\u201d calls with gunshot-like sounds in the background, and about 30 minutes after the initial call, someone called to report a gunshot wound.<\/p>\n
The initial report sent police scouring the campus and even had some law enforcement officials suggesting they believed there was a shooter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know today was every parent\u2019s nightmare and every student\u2019s biggest fear,\u201d Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said on the social platform X.<\/p>\n
Shapiro told state police to use all tools available \u201cto find the person or people who called in this fake threat and hold them accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Courtenay Harris Bond was walking near the law school with her husband and son, a freshman, when word spread of the supposed shooting.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally tough way to start freshman year at college,\u201d she said shortly after getting the all-clear to leave the bookstore where the family spent the lockdown.<\/p>\n
Villanova is a private Catholic university in the Philadelphia suburbs. It borders Lower Merion Township and Radnor Township at the center of the city\u2019s wealthy Main Line neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
The Augustinian school got extra attention this year as the alma mater of new Pope Leo XIV.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Casey reported from Boston, and Ramer from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press journalists Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Mingson Lau and Tassanee Vejpongsa in Villanova; Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee; and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"False reports of active shooters at Villanova University and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Thursday led…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100959,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[34904,4,450,12554,67491,451,67474,23600,67490,67489,3,67485,1583,67488,67478,2853,67494,11363,16597,452,453,67178,67484,67480,67486,67483,67475,67476,67482,67493,67481,67477,67479,67175,67487,67492],"class_list":["post-100958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-active-shooter","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-class","tag-extra-attention","tag-headlines","tag-jbnd","tag-monday","tag-nearby-resident","tag-new-student-orientation","tag-news","tag-philadelphia-suburbs-news","tag-police","tag-radnor-township","tag-radnor-township-shelter-in-place","tag-report","tag-second-alert","tag-student","tag-thursday","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-villanova-active-shooter","tag-villanova-augustinian-school","tag-villanova-campus-safety","tag-villanova-classes-start","tag-villanova-emergency-response","tag-villanova-law-school","tag-villanova-lockdown","tag-villanova-main-line-neighborhoods","tag-villanova-official","tag-villanova-orientation","tag-villanova-shooting-incident","tag-villanova-student-alert","tag-villanova-university","tag-villanova-university-campus","tag-wealthy-main-line-neighborhood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}