On-campus active shooter situation deemed false alarm

A youth volleyball tournament at Colorado Mesa University was interrupted around noon on Sunday when sounds reportedly similar to gunshots were heard in Brownson Arena. After evacuating the building, the Grand Junction Police Department and CMU safety personnel determined it was a false alarm caused by malfunctioning sound equipment. Approximately an hour after the initial alarm, CMU sent text and email messages to students stating law enforcement confirmed no danger on campus.

CMU Alert: (Main Campus) False report of active shooter near Maverick Center. Law enforcement is on scene and has confirmed no danger to the campus.

— John Marshall (@MesaVeep) February 25, 2018

“At approximately 12:07, our dispatch center started receiving 911 calls from multiple people here at the event, saying that they heard shots fired,” GJPD Officer Stan Ancell said. “We were dispatched [for] a possible active shooter.”

Linda Silva, attending the event to watch her granddaughter play, stated she heard a pop that sounded like a speaker, followed by a series of pops. The multiple pops caused concern that it may be more than malfunctioning equipment.

“We just said, ‘Get out now’ and everyone started running,” Silva said. “With what’s happened in this last week or so [it was] absolutely terrifying.”

Silva originally wanted to go under the bleachers, but her husband, a military veteran, directed her to get outside.

CMU Alert: (Main Campus) False report of active shooter near Maverick Center. Law enforcement is on scene and has confirmed no danger to the campus.

— Colorado Mesa U (@ColoradoMesaU) February 25, 2018

“I got outside and he said, ‘Get between two cars’ and then the cops were here so and they said, ‘Just stay where you are’ and that was basically it,” Silva said. “The kids were very very scared. They just didn’t know what to think.”

Silva was happy with how quickly GJPD responded to the incident. “They were here right away, so that was good,” Silva said.

“As far as our protocols, we had an off-duty officer here at the event and [they] got through to the dispatch letting them know that it didn’t appear to be any type of active shooter,” Ancell said. “So coming in we had a pretty good idea it was more of an electrical issue than anything.”

The presence of the off-duty officer providing information altered the response slightly. “What we would normally do, it didn’t pan out like that,” Ancell said. “I’m very glad it was a false alarm.”

According to Pua Utu, director of campus safety and student conduct at CMU, the noise was confirmed as a technical sound system error. Utu was happy it was a false alarm and stated that everyone followed CMU’s emergency action plan.

“We’re still getting some tension from what’s going around outside our state. We have to take every single one of them very seriously. So I’m happy that it turned out to be an unfounded false alarm, but we were able to move people in a safe area,” Utu said. “The campus is safe, the building is safe, and I think we will work with the sound system here pretty soon. I think the process, the way we moved people around, we’re pretty happy with the outcome today.”

Word spread around campus after the noise was heard and students were encouraged to evacuate the University Center.

“At 12:11 my roommate, who was in the UC, was ushered into the Starbucks closet along with other students and alarmed to the fact that there was a supposed shooter in the gym. Emails and texts were sent out at 1:05,” Shelby Cerise, a former Associated Student Government senator, tweeted.

At 12:11 my roommate, who was in the UC, was ushered into the Starbucks closet along with other students and alarmed to the fact that there was a supposed shooter in the gym. Emails and texts were sent out at 1:05.

— Shelby ☾ (@shelbycerise) February 25, 2018

At 12:14 p.m., Alec Williams, editor in chief of The Criterion, tweeted about the active shooter threat on campus. At 12:24 p.m., Williams tweeted the threat was a false alarm.

At 1:06 p.m., CMU followed suit through the Emergency Warning System by sending out a text reporting a false alarm of an active shooter and stating law enforcement confirmed no danger to campus. There was no official notice of a possible active shooter sent prior to the false alarm message.

“CMU Alert: (Main Campus) False report of active shooter near Maverick Center. Law enforcement is on scene and has confirmed no danger to the campus,” wrote the two emails safety@coloradomesa.edu sent out at 1:07 p.m. and 1:31 p.m.