ORLANDO, Fla. — The University of Central Florida campus is back to normal Saturday after an alert that scared many students and parents late Friday night.
UCF police told people at the Tower 1 dorm to “shelter in place” after reports of someone with a gun.
Police searched the area and found someone with a BB gun that looked like a real firearm.
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Officers with UCF police and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office responded to the situation that caused chaos on campus.
UCF police said they received a phone call just before 11:30 p.m. about someone entering the building with a gun. UCF students were evacuated from the Tower 1 building as a precaution, police said.
An alert sent out by UCF urged students to stay away from doors and windows but never got into details about exactly was happening.
The alert caused confusion among students and parents until UCF police later said they were searching parts of the building in Tower 1, after an eyewitness reported seeing a man enter the building with a gun.
Officers said they found that man, who had a BB gun. Those aren't allowed on campus.
UCF police explained how his team could have handled things differently.
"It really was not the appropriate way to push that out," said UCF police Chief Carl Metzger. "We should have been much more specific in how we pushed out that alert, and this is one of those times where we own it."
Police haven't released the ID of the man and said he won't face criminal charges.
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