The University of Central Florida Police Department closed investigations into suspicions of a civilian holding a weapon at the John C. Hitt Library in the last week of the Spring 2016 semester.
The April 26th incident began with social media posts claiming that a distressed student held a gun in the staircase, with the posts advising to stay away from the area.
UCF PD officers investigated the claims, after receiving 911 calls on the same suspected individual, and deemed the post to be a credible threat to students in the library during finals week at the university.
UCF Police Chief Richard Beary addressed media in the days following the incident saying:
“A social media post about a person with a gun inside the UCF Library was brought to UCF PD’s attention. Multiple calls to UCF PD followed, some of which described a person of Middle Eastern appearance, possibly a woman, having a gun in the library,” the Chief said. “Officers reached the library within minutes, and they went from floor to floor searching for details matching the tips police received. Ultimately, no gunwoman or suspicious activity was found.”
I am proud of students who had the courage to report what they considered at the time to be suspicious activity. I am pleased with the officers’ swift and thorough response. Most of all, I am grateful that nobody was hurt.”
In a press release announcing the result of the investigation, Beary spoke on the official review and plans to improve the university’s response to future incidents.
“UCFPD thoroughly reviewed the information reported to us and worked to track down additional leads that could help us understand what took place in the Library the afternoon of April 26.
We are unable to clearly determine whether there was a firearm on campus, and therefore, we are inactivating our investigation. It could be reopened in the event that additional information becomes available.
We’ve had several discussions internally and with our stakeholders about our actions that day, and we will use that feedback to enhance future responses.”
Rumors of the suspect being a girl in an otherwise normal girl in the stairway, not a gunwoman, circulated, becoming another focus during the university police department’s investigation.
The student in the stairway would be recognized with the assistance of the Muslim Student Association of UCF, although could not immediately be identified.
By Brigitte Snedeker and Joe Klawe-Genao
