CEDAR CITY, Utah — A suspicious phone call to Southern Utah University about an active shooter that prompted hours of lockdown on campus was likely a swatting incident.
Thursday, a massive police response was called to the school while students sat in classrooms for nearly four hours due to the threatening call.
On Friday, University President Mindy Benson said the threats were most likely "swatting calls."
Swatting is when an individual makes a prank call to emergency responders to bring a large amount of armed officials to a specific area.
Activities and classes were canceled for the rest of the day and evening Thursday following the incident, with a regular schedule resuming Friday.
Benson said resources were available to students, faculty and staff who need help coping with what happened.
The school's alert system sent out the first warning at 9:36 a.m., later sending out notice of a suspect fitting the description of a "white male with black hat, black shades, green t-shirt, long hair, blue jeans, 20-25 years old."
After the incident was resolved, officials said it was, "highly unlikely that the possible suspect was actually involved in this threat."
At 10 a.m. officials received reports of noises sounding like shots fired at the Science Building, but after an investigation, the school confirmed that no shots had been fired and that the Science Building was "fully cleared."
Hours later, just after noon, lockdown began to be lifted as officials cleared individual buildings on campus.
Lockdown protocols were lifted one building at a time as officials cleared the campus. They stressed that no shots were fired and nobody was injured in the incident.
"In order to allow everyone to care for themselves, SUU has closed its campus for the remainder of the day, including canceling all classes, activities, and services," an update reads in part. "Campus will reopen tomorrow, Friday, April 12."
A student on campus told FOX 13 News that they were in class when the emergency alert was received and doors were promptly locked. They also described hearing a helicopter overhead.
An investigation is underway to determine exact details surrounding the suspicious call.
Stay with fox13now.com and FOX 13 News for the latest on this breaking news story.
