The University of Georgia issued an emergency alert on Friday after reports of an “armed shooter at the Main Library.” The campus community was urged to avoid the area as first responders arrived on the scene. UGA posted the emergency alert at 8:51 p.m.
The alert, posted to the university’s website, read, “This is an Emergency UGA Police Alert Message for the Athens Campus. There has been a report of an armed shooter in the area of Main Library. Please avoid this area. First responders are on the scene. More information will be posted at emergency.uga.edu as it becomes available. Please do not call emergency numbers for information.”
UGA, a public land-grant university located in Athens, Georgia, is one of the largest and oldest public universities in the state.
Several local residents reported receiving an emergency alert from UGA warning of an armed shooter.
One person wrote on Facebook, “Just got a UGA alert that an armed shooter is in the area of UGA library, on North campus. Apparently, these hoax calls have been happing across the country, but sirens are alarming downtown telling everyone to get indoors.”
Another wrote, “Please pray for the students’ safety at UGA….my son has been marked safe….I don’t have any confirmed details…but Pray God dispatches His angels of protection.”
A third person wrote, “I saw on National news earlier this week that there is a hoax going around US colleges. I appreciate UGA taking it seriously, but this has been going around US college campuses this week – fake threats being called in, then swat teams being called in. I have no idea if this is one of those, but it could be. Not that it makes it better, but just so you know there have been so many this week.”
Hoax threats
The alert at UGA comes amid a disturbing nationwide trend of swatting incidents targeting college campuses. Over the past week, at least a dozen universities across the country have been impacted by hoax threats falsely reporting active shooters. Among the affected institutions are:
University of Arkansas
Kansas State University
Iowa State University
University of Colorado Boulder
University of New Hampshire
Northern Arizona University
University of South Carolina
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Villanova University
Law enforcement officials have been investigating these swatting calls.
