Person with gun reported on Evanston campus

Officers on Emerson Street and Maple Avenue.

Daily Northwestern staff
March 14, 2018

Update, 4:25 p.m. Police told reporters the incident was the result of a hoax call.

Update: 3:55 p.m. An emergency text alert to students said “persons in Engelhart Hall should remain behind locked doors, but that other Northwestern community members no longer need to stay behind locked doors.” The alert said to avoid the area of Engelhart Hall.

Glew told reporters they are continuing to investigate the original call from someone who claimed he had shot his girlfriend and the “potential that this might be a hoax.”

Original story:

A person with a gun has been reported on the Evanston campus, police said.

An emergency notification was sent out at 2:40 p.m. about a person with a gun on the campus. Just before 3 p.m., an emergency alert said police were investigating an incident at Engelhart Hall, which is at the intersection of Maple Avenue and Emerson Street. A subsequent alert said there was an “emergency situation involving a person with a gun reported in Engelhart Hall on the Evanston campus.”

Evanston police Cmdr. Ryan Glew told reporters that someone called in at 2:17 p.m. and said he had shot his girlfriend in the area of Emerson and Maple. Glew said there was no indication that an incident had happened in the location given.

“We have not located anything at this time,” he said. “There were no victims, no offender no scene at the original location given by the original call.”

According to an EPD tweet, the department and University police are continuing to “search and secure the area.”

Engelhart Hall is a 10-floor graduate student apartment complex at 1915 Maple Ave. where students can live with their partners and families. The building is located five blocks from the main part of the Evanston campus, and is close to the Foster CTA stop, several apartment buildings and other off-campus student housing.

The alert instructed those on campus to seek shelter in a safe place and remain there until further notice.

Several students said campus buildings they are in are in lockdown, and students, faculty and others on campus are sheltering in place.

Evanston Police tweeted earlier in the day that there was reports of shots fired at Emerson Street and Maple Avenue. According to EPD tweet at 2:40 p.m., the area is not secure or safe.