Shelter-in-Place Order Lifted at Catholic University Following Phone-In Active Shooter Threat

| 04/13/2023

By: Our Sunday Visitor

Catholic University incident was one of three shelter-in-place orders issued at U.S. universities on Thursday

This file photo shows a view of The Catholic University of America's campus from the bell tower of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.
This file photo shows a view of The Catholic University of America's campus from the bell tower of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. A shelter-in-place order was briefly issued April 13, 2023, at the university due to fears of an active shooter, with an all-clear declared an hour later. (OSV News photo/CNS file, Bob Roller)

(OSV News) — A shelter-in-place order was issued on April 13 at The Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington following a possible threat of an active shooter, with an all-clear declared an hour later.

At 10 a.m., the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department received a call alleging “an active shooter on campus,” Brianna Burch, MPD public affairs specialist, told OSV News.

A shelter-in-place alert was immediately sent via the Rave Alert emergency alert platform to the CUA community, Daniel Drummond, CUA’s associate vice president of communications, told OSV News.

MPD and CUA public safety officers conducted a “systematic search” of the campus buildings and locations, as noted by the CUA public safety department in a 10:38 a.m. tweet.

At 11:03 a.m., CUA’s public safety department tweeted the shelter-in-place order had been lifted. No active shooter was identified.

Drummond told OSV News that CUA president Peter K. Kilpatrick would issue a statement later on April 13.

Shelter-in-place alerts were also issued on April 13 at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas, and Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas.

Corpus Christi police said the department had received a report at 10:23 a.m. local time of an active shooter at Del Mar College. After clearing the campus buildings, it said, “No evidence of an emergency was found.” Further investigation determined that “the call was placed by a scam number.”

Texas Wesleyan tweeted that Fort Worth police “quickly responded to the campus and started clearing buildings and found no evidence of an emergency. Further investigation found the call was placed by a scam number.”

The university also noted that “there was never an actual threat to campus.”

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