Advertisement Lockdown lifted at Stevenson University; Investigation continues Witness spots alleged gunmen at Owings Mills campus Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Baltimore County police are still investigating a situation at Stevenson University in which witnesses reported seeing a gunman on campus Monday, prompting text alerts and a campus lockdown for a few hours.Mobile users tap here for video.The situation was declared over by police a few hours after it began, and by Monday night, Stevenson University's president said the incident may have been the result of two students who exercised "poor judgment by hunting with BB guns in the woods near campus."Baltimore County Police spokeswoman Elise Armacost said police responded to the university at 2:23 p.m. for a report of an armed subject.Armacost said two people in a dormitory on campus saw a man walking with a long rifle. They notified Stevenson security, who notified police, which is what generated the 911 call.Students on campus were then notified of the situation via text alerts.Stevenson University Office of Communications confirmed that the school's head of security issued an immediate text to shelter in place due to a report of someone on the Owings Mills campus seen with a gun. The university also posted the following warning on their website: "Active shooter reported on Owings Mills Campus. Shelter in place until further notice.""Basically, we had two people on campus who saw what they thought was a person with a gun. We have no report of an active shooting. We have no reports of shots fired nor of anyone injured," Armacost said. "They were seen walking along a wooded area."SkyTeam 11 Capt. Roy Taylor reported police had found a gun in a pickup truck, which was recovered. Taylor reported the pickup truck was permitted on campus and had a parking pass.Authorities learned about the pickup truck through a security video and a security guard and were able to identify the owner, who they questioned."We found a pellet gun in the backseat of a vehicle here on campus," Armacost said.It was unclear if the pellet gun discovered was the same weapon witnesses told police they saw.Police said they secured the campus, which was on lockdown so no one was permitted to come or go. Police tactical teams also came to the scene to clear campus buildings for any alleged gunman.The lockdown was lifted around 5 p.m., and students were allowed to move out of sheltered areas. At 5:30 p.m., Armacost said the situation was "over.""We have two young men, both students at the university, that we're talking to because we believe they can shed light on what happened here today," Armacost said.Stevenson's president told 11 News the students may have inadvertently set off the alarm by hunting in the woods near the Owings Mills campus.Armacost said one of the men voluntarily came out to talk with police around 4 p.m. She said it's unclear if any crime was committed."We’ll know that for sure after we’re done interviewing them," Armacost said. "It’s uncertain as to whether a crime was even committed here today. Once we finished talking to them we’ll be able to confirm that for certain, but at this point, I would say it seems uncertain that there'll be any charges."Police have yet to confirm that the two men they were questioning were the two hunters that the university's president referenced in his statement.Students react after receiving alert11 News reporter Lisa Robinson was at the scene and was able to talk with one student who was able to reach out to family since the alert went out."My dad’s just glad I'm safe," one male student said. "Everybody’s going to be shaken. You never think it would happen at your school, especially Stevenson (University) which has been well known for growing in the past couple of years. It's just rare to see."Other students described their immediate response after they were notified.Video: Students react to Stevenson University situation"We were watching a video in my class and all of a sudden an alert pops up on the screen saying 'There's been a gunman spotted on campus and to take shelter,' stay down. So we all just ran behind the teacher’s desk and along the wall, shut the door and then the cops or someone was telling us to move and then they told us to go back so then we started shoving our desks and chairs up against the door," said student Lauren Carpenter.Cellphone and computer access allowed them to monitor the situation in real time from behind their makeshift barricades."With the social media here, we all knew what was going on outside and with every unit coming, because everyone was taking pictures of the SWAT team and stuff like that. So as soon as I saw the pictures of SWAT arrive, I knew it was kind of a big deal," said student Derek Wells."We were getting text messages back and forth from our family members, our friends outside," said student Tara Martucci. "All we got was the text message 'active shooter on campus' so of course, everybody panicked. We got barricaded back inside of the classroom. Once we were there, some people started freaking out, some people were, you know, just scared."Most of the students and staff 11 News spoke to applauded the response by the university and the police.Stay with WBALTV.com and 11 News for more on this developing story. Mobile users tap here for photos