Active shooter hoax calls at Pitt's Hillman Library spark panic and questions about emergency alerts
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Hoax calls about a possible active shooter at the University of Pittsburgh's Hillman Library sparked panic and raised questions about the university's emergency alert system and how officials use it.
It was especially concerning for students because they could hear gunfire. A Pittsburgh officer shot out a door to gain access to the library during the situation.
"All of the sudden I hear, 'get out, get out, get out.' I turn around and there's about five cops with ARs," sophomore student Sohan Bolisetti said.
University of Pittsburgh Police Chief James Loftus said the first call came in at 11:10 p.m. on Monday saying there'd been a shooting at Hillman Library along Forbes Avenue. There were at least two more calls, Loftus said, and officers from the university and city responded by 11:15. Officers started a "systematic search" and cleared the building, determining there were no shooters and no victims.
Around the same time, Loftus said police got a call from students who were worried in Mervis Hall. Again, Loftus said officers cleared the building and found no shooter and no victims. He said that wasn't a hoax, it was actually a call from students who heard footsteps in the hallway and were concerned. He said police always tell students to say something if they see something, and the students in Mervis Hall did what they should have done.
University of Pittsburgh officials said that the calls reporting the active shooter situation were unfounded and Pitt police are investigating the source of the calls.
Just before midnight, Pittsburgh Public Safety officials said that the library had been cleared and that students were able to return to the library to retrieve any personal items that had been left behind.
A Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesperson later said that a Pittsburgh police officer who responded to the library during the incident fired shots into a locked door so that they could get into the building to clear any potential threat. Bullet holes could be seen inside the door along Schenley Drive where the shots were fired.
Police said there is no evidence of any other shots being fired. Pittsburgh police are reviewing to see if this aligned with the bureau's policy and training.
Shortly after 12:30 a.m., the University of Pittsburgh's alert system sent out the following notification:
Pitt E.N.S. Alert: University of Pittsburgh Police along with the City of Pittsburgh Police responded to multiple locations pertaining to an active shooter on campus. Officers have responded and cleared the locations. It has been determined that the calls were unfounded. Investigation continues into the source of these hoax calls.
Students on Pitt's campus tell KDKA-TV that they're concerned because the university didn't send an alert in a timely manner.
"I wasn't in the building when I saw all the students evacuating," said Pitt sophomore Bryce Krinshak. "Just to be in my room and hear my friends say there's a supposed active shooter in the building I was at 30 minutes ago, it's just not something I would've expected to hear."
"I was coming up close to the library and I just heard a couple gunshots, like three in a row," said Pitt freshman Evan Pinnix. "I didn't know what was going on. I kept going. I had my Airpods in and thought maybe I misheard something. People started running out so I just got out of here super fast. I saw police coming this way, so I'm not really sure what happened, I just heard a lot of gunshots."
The University of Pittsburgh released the following statement about the delayed response time from the school's notification system:
Last night City of Pittsburgh police received a call for an active shooter incident at Hillman Library that was determined to be unfounded. When City of Pittsburgh officers responded, one of them discharged his weapon into a glass door in a construction area to enter and assist in clearing the building. This caused understandable alarm. There were no injuries and there was no shooter. Complicating matters was the Emergency Notification System (ENS) message that went out was both delayed and flawed while officers were dispatched to a similar call in Mervis Hall. To address the ENS issue, we are currently reviewing the system and retraining our communicators. In both the incident at the local high school 10 days ago and in this hoax incident last night, Pitt Police responded swiftly to the buildings and assisted with clearing them. Several law enforcement agencies continue investigating the crimes. Still there are questions from both incidents, and we hope the resources below will begin to answer community concerns.
When the first alert came through, it didn't say anything but "Pitt ENS Alert:" because Loftus said there was an error in getting the full message out after they typed it up. They tried to get it out but it was beyond their character limit and they had to send out a new one.
Chief Loftus took the blame for the alert's delay and said he thought it would be irresponsible to put out an alert before both the library and Mervis Hall had been cleared. He said the priority was stabilizing the scene but he regrets the alert didn't go out sooner.
"My regret and my responsibility is that we did not get the ENS message out as quickly as I feel we could have or should have," Loftus said.
There were also concerns about three emergency exits being chained closed inside the library. The chief said those exits were closed off because of ongoing construction projects. He added that the emergency alert system will be used better in the future.
Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher released a statement Tuesday evening saying the university needs to prepare for both types of threats in the future: an "active killer scenario" and a "disinformation attack." Gallagher said the university is working to reassess the emergency notification system and revisiting its standard for sharing information. Gallagher said taking the cautious route against a disinformation attack is less effective when true and false information is spreading across other channels like social media and news outlets.
"Sharing information quickly can impact information accuracy, but we also recognize that speed of response matters. We are working to do better on balancing these factors," Gallagher's statement said.
The university is also working to educate the community on both types of threats and will "aggressively" pursue whoever is responsible for the hoax calls, Gallagher said.
The university said a student support space will be open Tuesday in the O'Hara Student Center from noon to 2 p.m.
Less than two weeks ago, numerous police agencies swarmed the city's Oakland neighborhood near Pitt's campus after hoax active shooter calls were reported at Central Catholic and Oakland Catholic high schools.
The FBI said it can't answer if the hoax calls at Pitt were related to the ones at Central Catholic and Oakland Catholic. No arrests have been made in the incidents from last month.
For the events left during this semester, Pitt police plan to have an extra presence. They wouldn't go into further details about what that would look like.
The FBI is assisting Pitt police with finding who did this. There's been no word yet on where the calls originated.
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