D.C. University Shelters Over Report of Armed Suspect

• published: 09 Dec 2015
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Catholic University ordered students and staff members to shelter in place Tuesday night for the second time in 24 hours after a report of a possible armed suspect on campus.Everyone on campus first was ordered to shelter in place early Tuesday, from 1:15 a.m. to about 2:50 a.m. , after a custodial worker reported being threatened by an armed man, who had not been located as of Tuesday evening. The second shelter-in-place order went into effect about 8:05 p.m. and had been lifted by 9:55 p.m. A campus police officer and D.C. police officer both told News4 Tuesday night that someone on campus reported having seen the suspect from the first incident on campus about 8:15 p.m. Out of an abundance of caution, school officials reinstated the shelter-in-place order and searched for the man. D.C. police said on Twitter Tuesday night that they located a suspicious person in the area. The university's Department of Public safety said in an update that that person is not the person involved in the previous incident. A custodial worker said a man approached him about 10:30 p.m. Monday on campus, in Pangborn Hall, according to a message university president John Garvey sent students Tuesday evening. D.C. police and the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force are investigating because the suspect made claims that sounded to the custodian like terror-related threats, Garvey said. The incident began when the armed man demanded to known the location of the administration building. The worker directed him to Leahy Hall. The university's Department of Public Safety contacted police, who arrived in about five minutes. A suspect was stopped, but the witness said that man was not the man who had threatened him. The university issued the shelter-in-place order at 1:15 a.m., nearly three hours after the incident, the school president said. Neither the suspect nor any explosive devices were found, Garvey said. In consultation with police, the order was lifted about 2:50 a.m. The university is boosting security, Garvey said. "Our [Department of Public Safety] officers are patrolling the campus in a heightened state of alert with support from members of MPD's Emergency Response Team," he said in the message to the community.