Villanova University Shooter warns “cruel hoax” and no one gets injured
Villanova Univ. Pastor Peter Donohue confirmed that the report of the active shooter was “cruel hoax” and that no injuries or firearms were found on campus.
Villanova, Pa. – A few days before the start of the academic year, a report of a shooting at Villanova University on August 21 sent panic throughout campus as frightened students and visitors scrambled to barricade inside a nearby building.
According to the school’s president, Pastor Peter M. Donohue, the report of an active shooter who forced the university to lockdown on the first day of orientation was deemed a “cruel hoax.” Campus alerts were sent around 4:30 PM local time during an orientation mass welcoming new students who recently moved on August 20th.
The school’s warning urged students and visitors, including many families, to move to a safe location and to lock or barricade doors. Authorities later began clearing the scene after confirming that there was no evidence of the aggressive shooter incident or victim.
“As we were celebrating orientation mass today to welcome our latest Villanovians and their families into our community, panic and fear continued with news of possible shooters at law school,” Donohue said in a statement.
First year students and their families returned to Colhole Chapel for the evening blessings by Donohue, who wanted to calm and unite the crowd after the incident shocked their families and students on campus.
Donohue and many others attended the opening mass when they received calls and texts about active shooters on campus. He said he had entered the church and everyone in his seats was scattered. “We weren’t our second reading yet.”
“It makes it difficult for us to leave our kids.”
California freshmen Randall Carter and Charlie Schwartz said they ran away to a nearby building where they were open and ran into the classroom.
Schwartz and his mother, Dana Nackman, ran to empty classrooms in the University Engineering Building, both from Los Altos, California. They even barricaded the doors.
“It’s very stressful and makes it difficult to leave our kids,” she said.
Another parent of freshman Joe Dirienzo from Harding, New Jersey, said the situation was well managed by staff.
Sunglasses and a water bottle were strung around the campus between the chaos, and we got lost in the busy makeshift time and a table was found. Everyone was grateful that filming was a hoax, but the experience left a sense of uncertainty around the campus of a Catholic university outside of Philadelphia.
Many people gathered and continued to pray. Donohue led the campus in the Lord’s Prayer and, after blessing, fired the crowd to be with his loved ones. He called it the “tumultuous” of “beautiful celebrations.”
