Colgate University, an upstate New York college, went into a lockdown Monday night after reports of an “active shooter” on campus. That “active shooter” turned out to be a black student who was carrying a glue gun for an art project.
Well, that’s not suspicious at all.
At any rate, the New York Daily News reports, university President Brian W. Casey issued a statement Tuesday calling for an investigation into what he described as a “profound error,” adding that there was “implicit racial bias.”
“It is important that we understand the role that implicit racial bias had in the initial reporting of and responses to the events of [Monday] night,” Casey said. “I want to make sure we speak with those who made and received the initial report to understand the role this played.”
A student at the university reportedly called campus safety to tell them about a black man holding what seemed to be a gun. Students were then notified of a “dangerous situation in the Coop” and were advised to “leave the building.”
Other alerts on social media claimed there was an alleged “armed person at the Coop,” although there were no reports of shots being fired as law enforcement continued to search the campus.
After a nearly four-hour lockdown, the university said that law enforcement confirmed that the “suspect” was another student who was using a glue gun for an art project.
“We understand this has been a very upsetting evening on many levels,” the university said in a statement.
The president said that the school is currently in contact with the student who had the glue gun and the student who made the original report.
Read more at the New York Daily News.