Two people were shot and killed on the UCLA campus Wednesday, university officials said, citing police.
Authorities received reports of an active shooter in or near the engineering building, Los Angeles Police Officer Tony Im said.
LAPD Capt. Andy Neiman said he was not aware of the total number of victims or their conditions. It was not clear if UCLA was citing campus police or LAPD for the report of two dead.
Officials put the campus on lockdown as authorities investigate the incident at Boelter Hall, a science and engineering building. Large groups of police with long guns patrolled the streets of the campus of more than 40,000 students.
SWAT officers and dozens of squad cars filled the area as police tried to clear campus buildings floor by floor.
Agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also were headed to the scene.
“So far we don’t know the nature of the shooting,” CNN senior law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes said.
“If it’s a personal thing between a couple of students, then it will be a local police matter. If by chance it turned into a terrorist situation, then the FBI would have primary justification over that.”
Los Angeles police issued a citywide tactical alert, meaning officers on duty will be extended.
Police urged residents to avoid the UCLA campus.
Fuentes said locking down a large university in an urban area is a “monumental task.” UCLA’s engineering building is in the middle of a very densely populated part of Los Angeles.
And if an active shooter is on campus, police face an exceptional challenge, Fuentes said.
UCLA’s final exams are scheduled for next week, with graduation set for Friday.