Police find no evidence of campus shooting
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Old Main. Photo: Wesley Hitt/Getty Images
Police found no evidence of shots fired on Monday at the University of Arkansas campus, despite reports, university police assistant chief Matt Mills said at a press conference Monday evening.
Catch up quick: Fayetteville police received a call reporting an active shooter around 12:30pm at David W. Mullins Library, spokesperson Cpl. Natalie Eucce told TV reporters earlier in the afternoon.
- "Since then, we responded to multiple different calls at multiple different locations surrounding the university," Eucce said.
- The library is in a central location on campus, near the student union. Classes started last week.
- Mills said later that calls reporting either an active shooter or shots fired came into UAPD dispatch for seven different buildings, including Old Main, the Fine Arts Center, the Pat Walker Health Center and a new arts building on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
The latest: Police had no confirmation of any gunshots or injuries and made no arrests.
- "It's looking as if this was another swatting or hoax call," Mills told reporters.
- All seven buildings were cleared by law enforcement and the command post was dissolved by 3pm, Mills said.
The university sent an alert to students and employees at 12:27pm telling them to avoid the area around Mullins Library because of a reported active shooter, university spokesperson John Thomas confirmed to Axios.
- The university had lifted protocols as of around 3pm and canceled classes for the remainder of the day, Thomas said.
Context: While the campus is the University of Arkansas Police Department's jurisdiction, multiple agencies responded.
- Fayetteville, Springdale and Tontitown police departments, Washington County Sheriff's Office and the Arkansas State Police all responded, Mills said.
What's next: UAPD was conducting an "after action" debriefing Monday afternoon. Leaders from other responding agencies will discuss what went well and what could be improved in their crisis responses, Mills said.
The bottom line: "I hope the parents understand that as they see the response from the law enforcement on scene how important their child's safety is to us," Mills said.
- "Every child, every staff member, every faculty member — their safety is our paramount concern."