DENVER - Police say a lockdown on the University of Denver campus has been lifted after they determined that two calls made to the campus safety department about armed men were unfounded. Denver Police Commander Matt Murray said the calls were a hoax.
University spokeswoman Theresa Ahrens says the first call at about 3:30 p.m. The caller was described as a computer-generated voice. The caller described a man wearing a black jacket and carrying an assault rifle entering the Ritchie Center sports and recreation complex.
About an hour later, a call came in, this time a human voice, about a man in his 30s wearing a red jacket and armed with a handgun at the other end of campus, near the Newman Center for the Performing Arts.
Notifications were sent via text, email, social media and other means advising anyone in the Ritchie Center to lock down and anyone else on campus to seek shelter in the nearest building.
Denver and campus police searched both locations but didn't find any evidence that gunmen were on university grounds. Police said the school may have been "swatted," which is when a false report is made to get a large law enforcement response.
"Whether it was a real threat or not, my thought is we have to behave this way. We have to take all of these things seriously. The worst thing that could've happened would've been for us not to have taken this seriously, and something really happen," university spokesman Will Jones said.
A similar alert was issued Tuesday night after someone called 911 to report a man with a gun inside Ritchie Center. It turned out the man had a hockey stick and not a gun. Police could not say if Tuesday's incident was a hoax or a misunderstanding.
(KUSA-TV © 2015 Multimedia Holdings Corporation with The Associated Press)
