There was no active shooter at the Mississippi State campus and reports of shots being heard are the result of “panic and clutter,” Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Chris Turnipseed told CNN on Thursday. A person of interest related to the initial emergency call was taken into custody, he said.
There was no weapon on him, Turnipseed said.
Mississippi State’s emergency alert system on Thursday warned of a potential active shooter on campus and asked people to seek safety.
The university said that a suspected shooter was in custody, but then said there were no reports of shots being fired.
An all-clear less than an hour after the initial alert. Classes are suspended until 2 p.m. (3 p.m. ET), at which time campus operations will resume as normal, the university said.
However, even after the all-clear was given, new tweets from students claimed gunshots were being heard.
“Thought we were in the clear, but everyone started running across campus,” one Twitter user said. “No one knows what’s going on on campus so please pray for MSU.”
The university’s alert system denied there were additional reports of danger and urged students to remain calm.
Hannah Jordan, an MSU student, said she saw people jumping out of windows at the building where the incident had been reported.
From her vantage point in a nearby building, she saw police pull a man outside and handcuff him.
“I didn’t see a gun at all or ever hear any shots,” she said.
Confusion ruled, and no matter what police determine after talking to the person of interest, the MSU community was left shaken.
Tweets from the campus and Starkville community were filled with descriptions of people running as fast as they ever have, feeling traumatized, and calling it the “scariest moment of my life.”
The name of the man taken into custody was not released.
