Multiple calls were made to local law enforcement agencies which led to the evacuation of the Ezra Lehman Library on Sunday afternoon, according to Shippensburg University News (SU News). The threat was from two false calls with vague details that prompted immediate response by local police.
About 4:20 p.m., several Pennsylvania State Police responded to the library. They began evacuating students and library staff while checking the building, even asking individuals if they were carrying weapons, according to Angel Ball, a student employee at the library circulation desk.
About 40 students waited outside the library as the building was cleared, and by 4:30 p.m., the building was safe to reenter. A State Trooper said that the calls were “[from] somewhere overseas,” and that they are working on tracing the source.
SU News notified campus via email 20 minutes later, confirming SUPD received a call that they “believed to be a non-credible threat to campus.” In addition, there were other universities in Pennsylvania, including Dickinson College, Millersville University and West Chester University, that received “similar calls” on Sunday afternoon, and identified them as swatting, which are false calls sent in to emergency responders. There will be additional law enforcement presence on the Shippensburg University campus and further updates will be released. There is no immediate threat to campus, according to authorities.
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