CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says a false shooting call prompted a building evacuation on the UNC Charlotte campus Thursday afternoon.
A Niner Alert first shared after noon advised people to avoid the College of Education, located along Craver Road. The all-clear message was shared just before 12:30 p.m., with the university advising that police would remain on scene to investigate.
An alert from CMPD confirmed a building was evacuated only at the request of UNC Charlotte Police, and that there was no active shooter at all. CMPD's alert shared on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, characterized it as a false threat made against the campus.
Later in the day, UNC Charlotte provided more information in a Niner Notice shared online. The university said CMPD was called with allegations of gunfire near the College of Education building. CMPD and UNC Charlotte Police officers responded and did multiple sweeps of the area. Officers did not hear gunfire and determined there wasn't a threat to the campus.
On April 30, 2019, two UNC Charlotte students were killed and four others were hurt in a campus shooting.
In June 2020, the university received an external review of the deadly campus shooting, completed by the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators and the National Police Foundation. The report focused on four primary areas: leadership, relationships and preparedness; crisis communication; threat assessment; and mental health, resilience and recovery.
In total, the external review produced 31 findings and 79 recommendations for consideration by UNC Charlotte, though many of the recommendations had already been addressed at the time through the University's own after-action review that occurred shortly after the shooting in 2019.
Authorities are now investigating Thursday's incident as if it was a false report. Anyone with information can call UNC Charlotte Police and Public Safety at (704) 687-8300.
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