USF Sarasota-Manatee and several other Florida schools receive false shooting threats

After responding to an active shooter threat Tuesday at the USF Sarasota-Manatee Campus, officials from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said the threat was part of a statewide hoax of swatting calls. There were no shots fired, and no one was injured, officials said.

Late Tuesday morning, Manatee County acting administrator Lee Washington interrupted a county meeting with a possible active shooter situation at the campus. A USF-wide alert was sent out that said shots had been fired near the campus’ first-floor gymnasium and ordered staff and students to evacuate.

Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells and interim USF Sarasota Manatee Campus Police Chief Jennifer Coley spoke with the media after the campus was cleared of any threat, confirming at about 1:30 p.m. that the situation had been a hoax.

The active-shooter threat follows other evacuations on Tuesday at several South Florida colleges due to swatting calls, or fake threats. Law enforcement responded to Florida International University, Palm Beach Atlantic University, City College Hollywood, Broward College, and Florida Atlantic University.

"We don't treat it like a hoax, we would never treat this like a hoax," Wells said in a press conference following the false threat. "We are going to go in fully staffed and make sure there is not a threat on the campus."

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Wells said his office took steps to ensure law enforcement resources were not intentionally diverted by the false shooting report. Detectives will continue to work to find the person responsible.

"It's not a joke, " Wells said. "Our detectives along with the New College USF Police will continue to try to find who is responsible. I had my entire canine force here, we had several deputies that are part of the swat team ... We had to remain vigilant throughout the county to make sure they are not trying to divert our attention to one location and go somewhere else."

There was a heavy law enforcement presence in the area of the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus with over a dozen law enforcement vehicles, and authorities armed with rifles were seen rushing into the campus. Wells was seen at the scene alongside other deputies.

He said in a press conference that they received the call at 11:17 a.m., and the first deputy was at the scene at 11:20 a.m.

Access to the campus was restricted with nobody allowed to enter, and students who were on campus taking final exams were moved by deputies to the Hilton Garden Inn, just north of campus.

Students said that deputies came to their classroom doors and initially told them to barricade inside, then escorted them outdoors and to the lobby of the hotel. A deputy told the students they are free to leave but couldn't get their cars while deputies were sweeping classrooms.

Kendra Arnold, 19, a sophomore at the school, said she took cover in the corner of a classroom for what she said felt like 30 minutes after hearing an announcement of a potential active shooter. She said a professor helped block one of the doors and stood in defense with a pocket knife.

She spoke with the Herald-Tribune after being reunited with her parents, who picked her up from a location near the campus about 12:30 p.m.

"I was in the middle of a physics final, and I could hear the sirens of the cop cars and there was a little blinker that went off, so we all started getting really scared, and then we heard that shots were fired through the (intercom)," Arnold said. "So we instantly started moving stuff to block the doors and taking cover under desks and all that stuff."

"I was right at the front by one of the doors, so I helped block that one while the people in the back blocked the other one," Arnold said. "Then I grabbed my phone and went to the back corner farthest away from both of the doors."

Arnold said she immediately sprung into action because of the awareness that many other campuses across the nation have been victimized by active shooters.

"Just seeing it on the news, it happens all the time at schools, and knowing what to do in that situation is just a habit," Arnold said. "I need to do this, this, and this, and everybody is frantic trying to do the same thing."

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Evisa Zyka was in class taking a statistics test when the alarm sounded.

“We did hear the announcement” and saw flashing lights, she said. "We were told to fortify the door and lock the door.”

After about 10 minutes, Zyka said police arrived to escort them from the building.

She said she stayed calm throughout the incident. “We have to be, I think, in these kinds of situations.”

USF canceled all classes for the rest of the day, and students will be working with professors to make up final exams as soon as possible. Counseling services were made available to students and staff that may be impacted by the false threat.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan said the congressman was monitoring the situation.

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office also assisted with the call.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: 6 Florida schools, including USF Sarasota-Manatee, receive hoax threat