Students were warned to evacuate at Claremont McKenna University, and police worked to clear the area following a report of possible active shooters on Thursday evening.
The Claremont Police Department was receiving an appeal from active shooters on campus around 5pm and was working with local agencies to respond to potential threats and clear the area, the department said in a statement at 6:20pm.
The university said shelters were issued in order while police were on duty to ensure campuses were safe in an alert posted to the website at 5:50pm.
The incident comes a day after urging an armed shooter to urge a massive police response and evacuation at Loma Linda Children’s Hospital in San Bernardino County. The report was unfounded and no one was injured.
Five undergraduate college campuses that are part of the Claremont Consortium – Pomona College, Scripps College, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mud College and Pitzer College – will receive a campus safety alert at 4:55pm, notify police activities at Claremont McKenna College and warn them to stay from the lifespan of the Campus News Paper.
At 5:15pm, another alert was sent warning students to evacuate if they were on campus. This was followed by a 6:09pm email from Pomona College Dean of Students, who cancelled evening classes and urged students to evacuate due to a positive threat, the student paper reported.
Helicopter footage shot by KTLA News showed the important police and SWAT team responses on campus, with lots of resources concentrated around the Roberts Pavilion.
The news station reported that police were searching for students before police returned to at least one campus building.
“I was just doing homework. I have paper, I have paper, and I just got the ‘potential shooter’ text,” a student who Gabe told the news station. “I looked out the window, looked at the SWAT team, the officers, and said they were getting off campus and getting safe and locking the doors. We’re just starting to leave campus.”
Student Claremont McKenna College Dean Jimmy Doan sent an email at 6:18pm on a form to track student locations, according to a report by the student newspaper The Claremont Independent.
“We are thinking about each and every one of you,” he wrote. “Fill out this short form and let us know where we are. We can use this information to help you track the student community.”
Students were warned to continue evacuating with a 6:45pm status update on the CMC website.
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