'Unverified' Gun Report Caused Shelter In Place At Drew

MADISON, NJ - A police investigation prompted officials at Drew University to issue a shelter in place order on campus Tuesday morning, according to officials.

The "all clear" signal was given shortly before 12:30 p.m.

A message sent out through the school's electronic blackboard told the campus community to shelter in place until further instructions were sent.

Shelter in place means finding a safe location indoors and staying there until you are given an “all clear” or told to evacuate.

Campus authorities told Patch that while the Madison Police Department were conducting an investigation, there was no active threat.

Drew University President MaryAnn Baenninger thanked everyone for their cooperation, noting that campus safety is their highest priority. Her full statement is below:

"Earlier this morning, out of an abundance of caution, we put a shelter in place in effect because we received an unverified report that a community member was in possession of a firearm on campus.

Because of the nature of the report, we immediately contacted the Madison Police Department to assist Drew Public Safety in an investigation.

An investigation was performed, and it was determined that there was no threat to the Drew or surrounding communities.

As we noted in the final emergency notification, all activities have resumed as normal.

Jim Mandala, director of counseling, is available to offer services to any community member. He may be reached at 973-408-3395 and jmandala@drew.edu.

An event like today’s is extremely rare on our safe campus. But when the need arises, as it did today, we act accordingly. Fortunately in this case there was no threat."

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