AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) – Students at UMass Amherst have been alerted of an “armed person” on campus, Thursday night, and are being asked to shelter in place.
A UMass Police Dispatcher told 22News that a gunman was seen on campus. No one has been arrested, and no shots were fired. All UMass Police Officers are on campus searching for the suspect, and have set up a perimeter.
According to Daniel Fitgibbons of the UMass News Office, a student called in a report of a gunman at around 5:45 p.m. One or possibly two armed hostile people were seen inside the dorm.
22News received multiple photos of text alerts sent to students from UMass that the armed suspect was seen showing a handgun at Pierpont Hall. The first suspect was described as being a white man wearing a dark colored shirt and a gold chain. The second suspect is described as a white man in a gray sweatshirt.
Police are currently interviewing witnesses.
The university is reiterating that as this situation goes on, the entire campus is ordered to shelter in place, not just the people in the Pierpont Hall area.
There are more than 29,000 students at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, many of whom reside on the campus. UMass Amherst is the largest public university in New England.