Shooting Scare Spooks University of Oklahoma

University president says it was likely a false alarm
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 22, 2014 12:11 PM CST
Updated Jan 22, 2014 2:15 PM CST
Possible Shooting Spooks University of Oklahoma
A student walks past the Seed Sower statue at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., in this Sept. 12, 2011, file photo.   (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

The University of Oklahoma went on high alert today over a reported shooting that now appears to have never occurred. Around 11:30am local time, the school sent an alert to students. "Shooting on Campus. Avoid Gould Hall. Seek immediate shelter in place," its official Twitter feed warned. Students told the Oklahoma Daily that one or two shots were heard around Gould Hall at 11:20 am, and that police responded in force. One student who was in Gould reported a SWAT team coming in with guns drawn and ordering students to put their hands up and evacuate. Police reportedly evacuated nearby Dale Hall as well.

"We saw police get off their motorcycles and one pulled out a gun," one student says. "It wasn't even a regular gun, it was like a freaking rifle." But at 12:05pm, the school sent out a new tweet saying that "As of this time, no evidence has been found of any shots being fired. There are no injuries reported at this time." The school's president held a news conference just after 1pm saying the whole thing appeared to be a false alarm, with the sound likely related to a nearby construction project, the AP reports. A SWAT team is conducting a second search of Gould Hall, however, just to be sure. The incident comes just a day after a shooting at Purdue University. (More school shooting stories.)

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