UMass Lowell campus lockdown lifted after report of man possibly armed with gun
UMass Lowell students will be back in classes Thursday, a day after the school was locked down following reports a man, possibly armed with a long gun, was on campus Wednesday afternoon.
There were no reports of any shots fired and no one was hurt. Lowell police said there's no confirmation a weapon was involved.
UMass Lowell sent a campus alert after the reported sighting near the Riverview Suites on the South Campus at about 2:30 p.m. Police said they were looking for an Asian man, believed to be about 5'5" tall, wearing a gray or white sweatshirt and black shorts.
People were urged to stay inside until further notice. All classes and events were canceled for the rest of the day.
Social media video
UMass Lowell Police Chief Ron Dickerson confirmed a video circulating on social media of a man possibly armed with a long gun was real.
"We got a call around 2:30 this afternoon of someone behind Riverview Suites with what appeared to be a gun, and someone took a video of it," Dickerson said. "They posted that on social media. Our own video, surveillance cameras picked that up also."
Police said it was not an active shooter situation.
The lockdown and shelter in place orders were lifted at about 5:15 p.m. and buildings were evacuated.
"Based on a search and investigation, law enforcement partners believe the suspect is no longer in the vicinity," UMass Lowell said. "A large police presence is being maintained on campus."
Officers were at all residence halls overnight. Massachusetts State Police and the FBI's Boston bureau were assisting in the campus search.
Students barricade classroom door
Wednesday was the first day of classes for students at UMass Lowell. WBZ-TV's Kristina Rex spoke with a freshman during the lockdown who barricaded the door to the classroom. Tyler Bernier said all the students started whispering about the text alerts they received on their phones, and then he raised his hand to tell the professor.
"Eventually we ended up, we all just decided to barricade the door ourselves," Bernier said. The students said they had prior experience with training for an active shooter situation.
"We had probably five different ways of closing that door," Bernier said. "We had a laptop lock, there was four tables, a music stand in the hinge of the door, we had belts on it. One way or another, that door was going to stay closed."
According to the campus alert, people were told not to approach or engage the man if they saw him.
"It was very, very panicked," Bernier said. "A lot of people were crying and freaking out."
The university will offer counseling for students Thursday.
"My mom was like really nervous," said Aryana Solankai, who lives in the Riverview Suites. "She was asking me to FaceTime her every 30 minutes, every update and I did that of course."
Middlesex Community College also canceled all classes and activities Wednesday night at its Lowell and Bedford campuses due to the police activity and traffic delays.
Anyone with information is asked to call the UMass Lowell Police Department at (978) 934-4911.