OU President: No Evidence Of Shooting On Norman Campus

Wednesday, January 22nd 2014, 12:31 pm

By: News 9

OU President David Boren says no evidence of a shooting was found on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman.

Boren addressed students, faculty and the media on campus around 1 p.m. Wednesday. Boren said somebody called police Wednesday morning and reported they heard three shots fired. The call set in motion a massive and quick response by the university and OU and Norman police departments.

Students received the initial push notification about the reported shooting around 11:17 a.m. Norman Police assisted in the response, helping to set up a perimeter around Gould Hall.

OU sent this text out to students: "OU Emergency: Shooting on campus. Avoid (Gould Hall). Seek immediate shelter in place."

Gould Hall is the architecture building. It's on the south end of campus near the football stadium and Gaylord College.

Students were immediately evacuated from Gould Hall. Students, faculty and staff on campus were told to shelter in place as police responded to the situation.

SWAT teams members consisting of both OU and Norman police officers did a complete sweep of Gould Hall and the surrounding area. According to Boren, no shooter or evidence of a shooting was found. Some speculated the "shots fired" sound could have come from construction crews in the area, however, Boren said that hasn't been confirmed.

Just after noon, OU alerted students that normal operations have resumed. OU released this statement on its Facebook page:

"No evidence has been found of any shots being fired. There are no injuries reported at this time. Both the Norman and OU police department have very quickly responded as well as emergency personnel. President Boren is at the scene. Normal campus operations have resumed except for Gould Hall where additional checking is continuing."

During Boren's address he said all systems of responding to the situation "worked well" and that he was appreciative of the response efforts.

While classes and activities have resumed on OU's campus, Boren says Gould Hall remains closed and quarantined off while SWAT team members conduct a second sweep of the building "just in case."

A second sweep of Gould Hall is complete and found to be safe. Gould Hall has been reopened and classes have resumed.

According to Norman Public Schools officials, some Norman Public schools in the surrounding area of the OU campus were on "preventative lockdowns" as a precaution during the scare.