CHAOS ON NORTH CAMPUS

Members of the UB community can breathe a sigh of relief today after reports of a possible gunman on North Campus could not be fully verified.
At 4:05 p.m., officers from the University Police Department received a call from a student at Lockwood Library, where there was a possible sighting of a man with either a rifle or a shotgun under a navy pea coat.
According to Gerald W. Schoenle Jr., chief of police, the call resulted in officers' arrival at the site and the use of security footage from the building, which showed the possible suspect with something under his jacket, although what it was remained unclear.
'We went to a video and we immediately saw someone walking into the library that was right at the location where the suspect said there was a person that had a weapon,' Schoenle said. 'We were able to zoom in on those cameras and see a person in a very grainy video, that you certainly could not identify, who was carrying something that sort of fit the description, so that elevated our concerns a little bit.'
The library was evacuated at 4:40 p.m. and a campus-wide alert was sent to students in the form of a text message at that time, asking them to stay away from the building.
While the initial evacuation was in process, confused and interested students gathered around the library while police began to enter the building. Many were concerned that they were too close to a building where a possible gunman was on the loose.
'We would have acted totally differently [with an active shooter] than we acted in this case,' Schoenle said.
Rumors about the incident were appearing on social networking Web sites such as Facebook and Twitter, mentioning hostages, missing police officers and a vague description of the suspect.
Molly Wright, a senior business administration major, was sitting in her market research class in Alfiero Center when she received the text message.
'I showed the people sitting next to me and initially thought nothing of it,' Wright said. 'I just assumed it was a gas leak or something. I figured if something was seriously wrong, they would evacuate the campus.'
The evacuation of the building did not cause a panic for students that were forced to leave, according to John Curaba, a senior business major.
Curaba was on the third floor of the Student Union when he received notification of the evacuation. After looking out toward Lockwood Library, he was surprised by what he saw.
'It was kind of calm,' Curaba said. 'No one really knew what to think.'
Alice Park, a senior nursing major who was in Lockwood Library at the time of the evacuation, said that the process was very quick.
'I was studying in the third-floor study room and the police came in and asked us to evacuate, saying there was some sort of an emergency,' Park said. 'I asked what was happening and they wouldn't disclose any information.'
By 5 p.m., officers from the Amherst Police Department joined the UPD in its efforts to search the premises and fully evacuate the building. In addition, police created a perimeter around the area, which also resulted in the closure of Putnam Way between the library and the Alfiero Center.
Police officers geared with assault rifles and bulletproof vests then entered the building through its main entrance to conduct a thorough sweep in search of the alleged gunman. A video of multiple police officers searching the Cybrary was leaked on Twitter and Facebook by an unknown source.
'I looked up in a window later when I was walking outside and I watched a cop kick open a door and go inside with his rifle,' Curaba said. 'I asked another cop and they said he couldn't find [a gunman] at all.'
With a search still ongoing at 5:40 p.m., members of UB's senior administration felt that it was in the best interest of students to cancel all classes on North Campus for the remainder of the evening.
'[We] decided … to cancel classes because there was a lot of concern on campus,' Schoenle said.
A press conference was held at 6 p.m. by Joe Brennan, vice president for University Communications, which outlined what was known about the events during the late afternoon.
'The police have established a perimeter around Lockwood Library and are advising people to stay out of it so they can conduct their search,' Brennan said.
But the main search didn't last long. By 6:30 p.m., officers from the Amherst Police Department left the scene because they felt that the threat was 'under control,' according to a UPD officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.
As the final search by UPD officers began, there were still a sense of confusion throughout the UB community.
Reports from students said that both Capen Library on North Campus and the Health Sciences Library on South Campus were closed during the early evening, but there was no immediate threat at either location.
In order to coordinate a thorough search, Schoenle contacted off-duty officers to immediately come in, in addition to pulling officers from South Campus onto North Campus.
'Our emergency recall plan worked perfectly,' Schoenle said. 'Officers we hadn't even called yet got the text. We had 20 [off-duty] officers to assist us in searching the library.'
To replace the lack of a university police presence there, Schoenle contacted the Buffalo Police Department, which supplied patrols to the area.
At 8:15 p.m., Brennan addressed the media again, notifying them that the search for a gunman was completed and that no one was found in the building.
'Police have determined that there is no threat to campus and that it will be safe to resume activities, so classes will resume,' Brennan said. 'Safety and security of our students, faculty, staff and visitors is a top priority. We're glad that … it ended up being no harm to anybody.'
Schoenle said that while no gunman was found, investigators will still be reviewing video from Lockwood Library and that police presence will be increased on North Campus until further notice.
Stay with The Spectrum for complete coverage on the incident at Lockwood Library.

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