Gunman reports near Yale University may be a 'hoax', lockdown lifted

Washinton, Nov 26: The Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut issued an alert on Monday to its students and faculty members after reports of a

on the campus emerged.

As per the latest security update by the Yale University website, the University has lifted the lockdown for campus.

Linda Koch Lorimer, Vice President, Yale University sent a mail to all faculty, staff and students as:

"The incident began when an anonymous call was placed from a phone booth off-campus to the New Haven Police at 9:48 a.m.. The caller, who did not identify himself, told New Haven Police that his roommate had a gun on the Yale campus. New Haven police shared this information with Yale Police, and both responded immediately, scouring the campus and the location of the phone booth off campus from which the anonymous call was placed.

A few minutes after the Yale Alert was sent to the campus community, a Yale employee called police to report that she saw a man walking on Old Campus with a rifle. It now appears that the man she saw may have been one of the early responding police officers carrying a rifle.

The University has lifted the lockdown for campus.

Besides this caller, no one reported seeing a shooter or a person with a gun on campus. Nevertheless, we kept the campus on lock down while the search for a potential gunman continued.

The combined police forces combed the area and have found no suspicious person. However, the police are taking nothing for granted. They are working to track down who made the first (anonymous) phone call and to interview thoroughly everyone involved. As the Chief of New Haven Police made clear in the news conference this afternoon, if it was a prank call that started this chain of events, the authorities intend to prosecute the individual to the fullest extent of the law."

According to initial reports, a call from a public phone booth sparked off rumours that a person was ‘with a gun' on the campus.

Immediately the university issued an alert ‘shelter in place' on its website on Monday.

The report was even confirmed by the university website. The university sent off warning via texts and mails to its students and teachers, an official said.

Police officials blocked several roads leading to the university as they were inspecting the area. Officers were seen wearing tactical gear and inspecting the campus. Around 11,000 students attend the university.

OneIndia News