The US Naval Academy and Naval Support Activity Annapolis in Maryland was placed under lockdown on Thursday after the emergence of reports of threats. However, a subsequent update on the issue revealed there was no “credible threat” at the location, according to state officials cited by the Independent.
“In working with local, state, and federal law enforcement authorities, there is currently no credible threat to the Naval Academy,” the Maryland governor’s office shared with WBAL.
The military school collaborated with local law enforcement authorities to attend to the reported threats, according spokesperson Lt Naweed Lemar. Rumours of a gunman being present on the academy campus alarmed the concerned parties earlier in the day.
Confusion ensued after reports of ‘shots fired’ at US Naval Academy – Threatening email issued
Contradictory claims about the issue surfaced eventually. As per the reports swirling around at the time, campus sourced told news agencies that a disgruntled midshipman who came back to the campus with a weapon made the threats. Fox News also quoted insiders, saying that shots had been fired inside the student dorm Bancroft Hall.
However, deputy commandant Captain David D Forman later shared in an email that no there were no confirmed reports of gunfire, according to The New York Times. Emails obtained by the outlet suggested that the academy midshipman had warned those on the campus to “get inside and lock your doors right now” at 5:32 pm (local US time).
According to unofficial reports, those speculations were initiated after a midshipman, who had been removed from the military school, made anonymous threats on social media. He is believed to have used an IP addressed that showed he was present on campus.
No active shooter at US Naval Academy
A source further explained to NBC News that the police responded to the situation by shooting a midshipman staying on the campus, as he mistook an official as a threat and hit him with a training weapon. The individual was only responding to the rumoured threat after claims of there being an armed man impersonating law enforcement consumed the campus.
He was ultimately shot at the academy Thursday evening as authorities leaped to action to respond to the emerging threat reports amid the growing chaos, the sourced added. And so, the active shooter alarms have since been suspended.
In a security update later given to midshipman, it was revealed that rumours of an active shooter posing as law enforcement on the Annapolis campus were untrue, as per Fox5’s report.
The injured person was eventually taken to a hospital. He was originally sheltering in place on the campus when the confusion erupted. A Chopper4 video showed a person being transferred to a Maryland State Police helicopter on a gurney. The midshipman is expected to recover.
Governor Wes Moore’s office has since issued a statement, confirming there was “currently no credible threat to the Naval Academy.”