Villanova says a report of a campus shooter was a ‘cruel hoax’

VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — 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.

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 “ACTIVE SHOOTER on VU campus. Move to secure location. Lock/barricade doors.”

The school’s president later said it was a hoax.

“Today, as we are celebrating Orientation Mass to welcome our newest Villanovans and their families to our community, panic and terror ensued,” the Rev. Peter M. Donohue said in a statement. “Mercifully, no one was injured and we now know it was a cruel hoax.”

About four hours earlier, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga locked down its campus, telling students: “Possible active shooter in the University Center or Library. Run. Hide. Fight. More info forthcoming.”

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.

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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 “multiple” 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.

“I know today was every parent’s nightmare and every student’s biggest fear,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said on the social platform X.

Shapiro told state police to use all tools available “to find the person or people who called in this fake threat and hold them accountable.”

Courtenay Harris Bond was walking near the law school with her husband and son, a freshman, when word spread of the supposed shooting.

“Really tough way to start freshman year at college,” 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’s wealthy Main Line neighborhoods.

The Augustinian school got extra attention this year as the alma mater of new Pope Leo XIV.

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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.