Central State University, Wilberforce shooting scare: Lockdown lifted after search for suspect

The lockdown at Central State University, Wilberforce in Ohio has been lifted according to Debbie Alberico, interim Public Relations Director at the university. Authorities were searching for an armed suspect. 

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The university, around 8 PM Monday, said,“There is a report of an active shooter on CSU main campus in Wilberforce, Ohio. RUN, HIDE, FIGHT!”

About 20 minutes later the school deleted the social media post and put out an updated statement saying police were searching for an armed suspect.

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“Unfortunately, when the alert went out, it generated an automatic message that went to Facebook that said there was an active shooter. There was not an active shooter,” Debbie Alberico, interim public relations director for the university said.

The Greene County Sheriff’s Office also confirmed that there was no active shooter on campus. However, during a fight, a gun was reported to be seen. The office added that no shots were fired.

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Vice President for student affairs D’Angelo Taylor said that whenever there is an report of a gun on campus an automatic alert goes out reporting an active shooter. He added that the university will share updates with the specific details of Monday’s incident. 

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“We thought it was a fire alarm at first,” Amaya Richards, a student said, as per WOhio TV. 

“It made my heart jump a little,” Philip Hamilton, another freshman added. 

“I apologize for the error that came out on Facebook. Again, it was auto-generated and we need to get that fixed,” Alberico said.

Around 11 p.m., officials said the lockdown was lifted. No suspects have been taken into custody at this time.