Hoax Report Of Gunman Locks Down Northwestern Campus

EVANSTON, IL — Police are investigating a false report that a man shot his girlfriend at a Northwestern University graduate student residential building Wednesday. The 911 call led to a campus lockdown for more than an hour Wednesday. Evanston police said they believe the call was a "swatting" incident – where fake emergency calls prompt the dispatch of large amounts of police.

Police got a call around 2:17 p.m. from a man claiming to have shot his girlfriend at Engelhart Hall, an off-campus residential building at 1915 Maple Ave.

Cmdr. Ryan Glew said the phone call appeared to have come from outside the Chicagoland area, in the vicinity of a location southeast of Rockford.

Glew said the person who the caller claimed to have shot was found safe and the room in which the shooting was reported to have taken place was determined to have been vacant since last November.

The university announced a person with a gun had been reported at Engelhart Hall at the corner of Emerson Street and Maple Avenue around 2:40 p.m.

For more than an hour Wednesday afternoon, a heavy law enforcement presence was visible on Emerson Street between Sherman Avenue and Green Bay Road as police conducted a shots fired investigation. Police said no evidence of a shooting was found at the scene.

No one has been arrested and no one was reported injured in the course of the incident, police said.

Police sharpshooters were visible on the roof of a neighboring building. The 10-story residential building houses Northwestern graduate students.

For close to two hours, authorities asked anyone in Engelhart Hall to stay behind locked doors.

Outside of that building, the lockdown was lifted on the rest of the Northwestern campus shortly before 4 p.m. and police said there was no evidence of a wider threat to the public.

Northwestern University spokesman Alan Cubbage said he was happy with the police response. He said police were doing a final walk though Engelhart Hall before 4:30 p.m.

Earlier Wednesday, Northwestern students had joined with students at thousands of other schools to take part in the national school walkout against gun violence.

» More: Evanston Walkouts Protest Gun Violence

The incident at Emerson and Maple was swatting incident. No victims or danger to the public. Area is secure. Police and Fire are clearing the area.
— Evanston, IL Police (@EvanstonPD) March 14, 2018

Still going on in Evanston. @WGNNews @cbschicago @CLTVnews @ABC7 #ActiveShooter pic.twitter.com/Dg5BzdulwI
— John Lister (@ListersMind) March 14, 2018

Lockdown situation on Emerson and maple at engelhart, Northwestern’s grad housing. pic.twitter.com/tJSDWBSxxP
— Courtney Zwieg (@poniesarerad) March 14, 2018

View of snipers from Maple/Emerson in Evanston near @NorthwesternU campus amid ongoing shots fired investigation pic.twitter.com/9lT19X2He9
— Katie Little (@KatieLittle) March 14, 2018

UPDATE: "Police continue to investigate a reported incident at Engelhart Hall. Remain sheltered or avoid the area." Per NUPD #BREAKING #evanston pic.twitter.com/k2UDMAvvVM
— Colin B Photography (@colinbphoto) March 14, 2018