Lincoln University Police investigating disturbance that led to campus-wide active shooter alert

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Lincoln University Police Department is investigating a disturbance that led to a campus-wide active shooter alert being sent out Wednesday night.

Police determined shortly after the alert was sent out around 8:30 p.m. that there was no weapons offense or active shooter at the Dawson residence hall.

The original alert read: “LU Alert: Active shooter at Dawson Hall. Take cover or remain off campus! Weapons offense in the parking lot of Dawson." The all clear was sent out 20 minutes later, according to LUPD.

Some Lincoln students told ABC 17 News on Thursday that they feel the text alert caused an unnecessary scare.

"This whole situation was dramatic because there was never an active shooter," said student Alaisha Williams. "Just an altercation between two individuals that did not go right, escalated more than it should have."

Another student, Kooper Houvouras, said he and his friend were leaving Dawson Hall when the altercation was happening outside.

"I heard a bunch of yelling and a bunch of screaming about fighting," Houvouras said. "So we had to basically go through all the middle of it and then a bunch of cops were pulling up, and people are talking about shooting it, lighting it up."

Houvouras described seeing people running moments after he and his friend got away from the commotion.

"We saw people running, people were screaming, people were running into the back of doors and people were running upstairs into Sherman," Houvouras said.

Students described Dawson Hall as a popular spot on campus.

"Dawson, that's like our student center. We have a caf [cafeteria] in there and everything," said student Emaree Griffin. "Like if you can't go to Dawson, where can you go?"

Griffin said she's noticed a lack of alerts about other crimes on campus.

"There's a lot that goes on that should be sent out, and it's not being sent out, it's kept a secret," Griffin said.

Students said campus security inside of Dawson Hall were also unaware of the outside altercation when it was happening.

"They didn't even know until we came inside; they didn't even know that that was going on," said student Alyssa Williams. "And I think that's crazy because all the windows, it's like, see-through. Like, how do you not see?"

Alyssa Williams said residence hall staff told her to stay in her room and lock her door, but students were were not given an escape route. Mose Jones, another LU student, said his residential adviser checked on him and the others in the hall during the situation to make sure they were ok.

Jones said the university should have confirmed what the situation really was before sending out the alert.

"We live here, these are our homes. Where are we going to go if there's an active shooter?" said Jones. "They need to make sure of things before stuff gets sent out like that, like an active shooter."