Villanova University shooter alert a ‘cruel hoax,’ no one injured
Villanova Univ. President Rev. Peter Donohue confirmed reports of an active shooter were a “cruel hoax,” with no injuries or firearms found on campus.
ATLANTA — Three Georgia universities briefly locked down on the evening of Aug. 29 after each received a false report of an active shooter on campus.
The University of Georgia, the University of West Georgia and Clark Atlanta University each received a hoax report, according to university officials and local media reports.
At the state’s flagship university in Athens, police responded to a report of an armed shooter near the school’s main library just before 9 p.m. Aug. 29. Officers found “the report was a hoax,” according to a university statement.
The University of West Georgia, located in Carrollton, alerted students around 10 p.m. about a suspected man with a gun near the school’s Ingram Library, according to Assistant Director of Strategic Communications Julie Lineback. An all-clear was issued approximately 30 minutes later.
Clark Atlanta University, a historically black school located in the state’s capital, also was subject to a hoax call Friday evening that featured the sound of gunshots in the background, reported Atlanta’s WSB-TV. Atlanta Police Department spokesperson Chata Spikes told USA TODAY that officers “were dispatched at 8:55 p.m. to the … Robert W. Woodruff Library,” which serves Clark Atlanta and other local HBCUs.
The fake active shooter reports came amid a nationwide wave of similar calls targeting universities in recent weeks. The FBI is investigating the slew of swatting calls in coordination with state and local law enforcement agencies.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Sara Lue told USA TODAY that the agency “is aware of these incidents and the nationwide trend … We are coordinating with other states and our local partners to address these issues.”
The FBI’s Atlanta office said it too was “aware of recent swatting incidents involving a number of colleges and universities” in a statement decrying the practice.
UGA officials, UWG officials, and the Atlanta Police Department each noted that the false reports shared characteristics with the others sweeping the nation.
Dozens of colleges and universities have recieved similar fake calls this month, including the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the University of South Carolina, Northern Arizona University, the University of Arkansas, West Virginia University, Iowa State University, the University of New Hampshire, and the University of Colorado-Boulder.
In Georgia, the targets have included Mercer University and Central Georgia Technical College, according to FOX 5 Atlanta.
Experts told USA TODAY that swatting hoaxes aim to terrorize their targets, and they can strain emergency response resources. Elizabeth Jaffe, an associate professor at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, described the incidents as “an evolving epidemic.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
Contributing: Amanda Lee Myers, USA TODAY
