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Regenstein Library, Hutchinson Commons Evacuated Following False Police Report of Armed Person
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By THE Maroon STAFF
Regenstein Library was evacuated and shelter-in-place orders were put in place across the University after police received a report of an armed person on campus around 7:20 p.m. The alert was rescinded around 8:17 p.m. after police searching the buildings “found no sign of [a] threat.”
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Beginning around 7:20 p.m., multiple social media posts appeared claiming that there was a person with a firearm in the Regenstein Library and that the University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) was evacuating the library.
The first cAlert was sent around 7:31 p.m., notifying recipients of “police activity around the area of Regenstein Library.” At 7:39 p.m., the communications division of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) told The Maroon that the incident in
Regenstein Library was “non–bona fide.”
“CPD and [UCPD] immediately searched library facilities while the University issued a cAlert directing individuals to avoid the area,” University Spokesperson Gerald McSwiggan told The Maroon in an emailed statement.
An update from the University sent around 7:51 p.m. clarified that “police received an anonymous report” and that there was “no evidence of a shooting at the time.” The update said that people should “continue to avoid the area.”
Around 7:56 p.m., The Maroon received reports that police officers carrying rifles also evacuated Hutchinson Commons, located at 1131 East 57th Street. Multiple sources confirmed to The Maroon that Cathey and Woodlawn Dining Commons were placed under a shelter-in-place order. Individuals were not allowed to leave Woodlawn until around 8:30 p.m., after the all-clear was given.
