An active shooter alert that placed Villanova University on lockdown Thursday was a “cruel hoax” and no one was injured, according to university officials and law enforcement. The incident, which triggered a massive police response, occurred during new student orientation as families were on campus.
The initial alert was prompted by an anonymous 911 call around 4:30 p.m. reporting a shooter in a law school building with at least one wounded victim. The university’s emergency alert system then issued a warning to students to “Move to secure location. Lock/barricade doors.” This initiated a large-scale response from law enforcement agencies across the tri-state area.
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer and Villanova University President Rev. Peter M. Donohue later confirmed that the reports were unfounded. The campus was placed on lockdown while police went door-to-door, room-to-room, searching for a shooter or victims. Officials confirmed there were no reported victims, injuries, or evidence of firearms.
The incident is being investigated as a “swatting” event, where a false threat is called in to draw a large police presence. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro stated that he has directed 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.” This incident at Villanova follows a similar, also unfounded, active shooter report at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga earlier the same day.