Washington, DC [US], September 12 (ANI): The US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, was put under a security lockdown after anonymous threats made on social media about an active shooter on campus, the New York Times reported, citing military officials.
NBC News reported that the threat was made by a student who had been kicked out of the academy. Several other local US media outlets also reported that the lockdown was in response to threats made against the academy, which officials said were not credible.
“There is no active shooter threat; however, one person was injured while Naval Security Forces were clearing a building,” according to a statement from a Naval Academy spokesperson published by the USNI.
Gunshots were heard earlier inside Bancroft Hall, which houses the midshipmen, who are what all students at the academy are called.
The threats and the lockdown at the Naval Academy came a day after prominent right-wing figure Charlie Kirk was shot dead at a Utah university event, and threats targeted at least five historically Black colleges, prompting lockdowns at those campuses.
Fox News reported citing sources inside the US Naval Academy that one victim was transported via medical helicopter, and multiple other victims were being assessed.
The US broadcaster further said that a Defence Department official also confirmed the agency is aware of the lockdown at the campus, adding officials “are monitoring the situation with the Navy. Secretary Hegseth has been briefed.”
The Naval Academy and a nearby military base, the Naval Support Activities Annapolis, were put on lockdown at 5:07 pm (US local time) as authorities responded to threats against the academy and reports of suspicious activity. Faculty, students and staff were urged to shelter in place.
The academy confirmed one person was injured and that there was no active threat at 9 pm, around four hours after the lockdown began.
According to the NYT, the anonymous threat was traced to a laptop belonging to a midshipman who had left the academy and was confirmed to be in his parents’ house in the Midwest.
The false report of the threat “provoked a flood of misinformation on social media” and “chaos and confusion” on the campus in which led to “an altercation between a law enforcement officer and a midshipman”
“The midshipman mistook a law enforcement officer for the shooter and struck him in the head with a parade rifle. The law enforcement officer then fired at the midshipman, wounding him in the arm, the officials said,” NYT reported.
Naval Academy, located on the banks of the Severn River, is a four-year college that prepares students, called midshipmen, to be commissioned as officers in the Navy and Marine Corps, the NYT report stated. (ANI)
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed of ANI; only the image & headline may have been reworked by News Services Division of World News Network Inc Ltd and Palghar News and Pune News and World News
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