UMass Lowell shooting alert: Police say false alert sent, no active shooter

The University of Massachusetts in Lowell joined the list of universities to have received a hoax phone call about a potential active shooter. On Wednesday afternoon, the university sent out an alert about a possible gunman on campus, but later retracted the alert, confirming there were no active shooter.

The Lowell Police Department responded to the incident at the UMass Lowell campus, and a large police response was on. UMass Lowell said in the alert that a gunman with a long rifle was spotted near the university's Riverside Suites hostel. They searched the campus for the possible shooter, and the campus was briefly placed on lockdown.

Once the search was complete, and no shooter was found, normal activities resumed on the campus. Lowell PD confirmed the same in a statement.