'All clear' at UMass Boston campus after reports of shots fired and huge police response

A huge police response unfolded Thursday on the campus of UMass Boston in Dorchester, with UMass Boston Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco saying Thursday evening in a statement the incident was sparked by reports of shots fired at several locations on campus — reports that are still under investigation but don't appear to be credible.

Boston Police, in a statement, said they responded to a "report of shots fired" on the campus at 3:43 p.m. on Thursday "to provide mutual aid."

Just before 7 p.m., UMass Boston released a statement reading that the incident started with reports of several shots fired at multiple locations on the Columbia Point campus.

"Earlier today, our campus experienced reports of shots being fired in a residence hall and other locations," read the statement. "After a thorough investigation by university, Boston, and State Police — along with other emergency services — no evidence of any gunfire was found anywhere on campus or in any adjacent building and, thankfully, there have been no reports of injuries. Out of an abundance of caution, we closed campus for the evening and canceled all activities."

Classes and campus activities resumed Friday morning as scheduled.

Other similar threats that also were non-bonafide were reported at colleges and universities across the country Thursday, including at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. No information was immediately available as to whether all of the incidents Thursday — on the 24th anniversary of 9/11 — were connected.

"Throughout this incident and after, students and all of those who were registered in our campus alert system were kept informed with regular updates, which were repeated in all of our university and public safety public communications channels," read the statement from the chancellor.

"We know how unsettling this incident was, especially for those on campus who experienced the large public safety response and campus-wide sweep, as well as for all of your families, friends, and loved ones," he continued. "Thank you for your patience, cooperation, and resilience during this difficult moment."

During the incident, however, the scene quite serious with scores of police assets who swarmed the area around Mount Vernon Street and both Boston and State Police personnel — some with assault-style rifles — focused on the area of student dorms near the Harbor Point development.

Boston College High School, which was also on lockdown due to the situation, issued an "all clear" to its community around 4:50 p.m. A school official indicated that reports of "shots fired" on the UMass Boston or BC High campus were "false."

Students received an emergency alert and the university's social media urged people to avoid the area of the residence hall east building and campus center.

Scores of students could be seen walking away from the campus on foot after 4 p.m.

Others stayed on scene and watched the police activity unfold.

Kennedi Williams, an 18-year-old freshman from Dorchester, is in her second week of class. The first alert message she received indicated a Hazmat situation at the Edward Kennedy Institute.

“As my teacher is presenting, it flashes across the screen that lockdown, campus center active shooter. My teacher just says I think we should end class. Not even lockdown. So we left class until somebody else in the McCormack building told us that we should go into lockdown, that we should hide.”

Williams says she and two other students locked themselves in a classroom.

“All the gun violence that's happening in the world today, like, you just can't hide, you can't run away from it. It's always going to be like, it's always going to be there.”

Aymal Afzal, a junior from New York, described the scene he witnessed on campus.

"I was going to my class and I saw everybody running," he said, noting that he smelled the odor of gas and was worried for a roommate in one of the buildings.

“We’ve been seeing a bunch of crazy stuff on the news and it’s been pretty anxiety producing but I didn’t expect it to come so local," he said. "We live right there," he said, pointing towards the nearby Harbor Point Apartment community that is adjacent to campus.

"I’m going to stay home all day, maybe for the next few days," he said. "I feel like nowadays with everything happening they should have better policing and security measures on campus.”

"If it’s something major I don’t understand why they aren’t evacuating everyone here," he said.

Tara O'Reilly, a junior at UMass Boston, received an initial emergency alert text while at her apartment at Harbor Point saying to avoid the area of the Edward Kennedy Institute.

"Literally not even like three minutes after they said to avoid East residence halls," she said. "My brother texted me, said there was a ton of cop cars, a ton of helicopters so I looked out my window and I was like, okay, so this is serious.”

WBUR and the Dorchester Reporter have a partnership in which the news organizations share resources to collaborate on stories. This story was originally published by the Dorchester Reporter.