ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The sighting of what turned out to be a BB gun led to an hourslong lockdown at the University of Central Florida.
The university sent a shelter-in-place alert around 11:30 p.m. Friday, advising those near the Tower 1 dormitory to seek shelter away from doors and windows.
Campus police tweeted nearly 50 minutes later that there hadn’t been a shooting, but authorities were trying to contact someone in the dorm who appeared to have a firearm in his waistband.
At 1:45 a.m., police issued an all-clear, saying the individual had a BB gun, not a firearm. Police apologized for causing “undue panic and stress” with the initial alert, which UCF Police Chief Carl Metzger says was more appropriate for a tornado warning.
Metzger says the student will face student conduct sanctions, but won’t be criminally charged.
