LA PLUME -- The possible threat of a gunman put a college campus on lockdown for more than an hour Monday afternoon.
That lockdown was lifted from Keystone College shortly after 2 p.m. after state police said there was no gunman.
State police said this all happened after school officials caught wind of a rumor on social media that there was a shooter on campus. Those rumors led Keystone College to issue an alert about a campus hazard just before 1 p.m.
The alert warned people to take shelter, lock doors and windows, and that this was not a drill.
Police responded to the campus along with the FBI.
After investigating for more than an hour, police said there was no actual gunman on campus. However, both the college and police considered what they saw on social media to be a credible threat and they were not taking any chances.
"Everybody responded extremely, extremely well, very promptly and our emergency preparations worked very well. Special thanks to state police and all the officers involved as well. Basically what we can say is we acted out of an abundance of caution and fortunately that's all that took place to the best of our knowledge. There was no person on campus," said Fran Calpin with Keystone College.
While the lockdown order was in place, students hid under tables and desks, many of them afraid.
"Everyone was very quiet. People were crying. It was very scary," said student Megan Peckins.
When it was all over, Peckins left the library after hiding under a table.
"They told us to get under desks and get to the corner of the room and that was it. We were all on the phones seeing if there was any information we could find out. They couldn't really tell us anything."
After the lockdown was lifted, students filed out relieved, but still shaken up.
Samanth Cielski found an empty classroom and locked herself inside.
"I was so nervous. My mom called me and I was pretty much talking to her the whole time."
Dad Colin Healey got the text alert the school sent out ordering shelter in place. His daughter got it too. In the library, he showed up concerned.
"I called every extension on this campus for an hour straight trying to find out something because my daughter's here," Healey said. "I was upset, crazy scared. Especially with everything you hear in the news these days, everything else going on, I felt the worst."
After the lockdown was over, classes did continue, but many students headed for their cars to go home.
"No one knew if it was just a rumor or what was going on," said student Brendan Brown.
Police plan to have an officer on campus overnight.
State police said they are investigating how that rumor of a gunman got started on social media.
[Original Story]
Keystone College in La Plume is on currently on lockdown.
An Emergency alert from the college says that there is a campus hazard. It advises people to shelter in place and lock doors and windows.
Newswatch 16 has a crew on the scene and will provide more information as it becomes available.