The Boca Raton campus of Florida Atlantic University remains in a lockdown state as campus police continue to search for an armed suspect, who opened fire during the night at a party on campus. A non-student was injured during the incident.
At a news conference, the FAU police chief said that a 9-1-1 call was initially placed to Boca Raton's police line at 1:16am, then transferred to the FAU police line. FAU officers responded to the scene of the shooting within about 3 minutes. The incident happened at the University Village Apartments, a campus housing unit for FAU students.
Wednesday classes will be cancelled at the FAU Boca campus only; classes at PBCC and Henderson Elementary school on the FAU campus are also cancelledAt 1:42am a newly installed siren & PA system were activated to alert students to go into their residences, or other areas of safety. Messages were also mass-emailed to students to warn them.
Campus police are no longer certain if the injured person was a victim of a grazed bullet, or was somehow injured while students were trying to leave the scene. Investigators say they have some "good leads" about the suspect.
University President Frank Brogan, who described the incident as "very isolated," says the campus will remain in a locked down state until it is clear that the suspect has been arrested, or that it is determined he is no longer a danger to the students.
Brogan hopes to have all classes resume on Thursday. Final exams will be rescheduled, and students affected will be notified by their instructors. Commencement ceremonies are still planned for Friday.
Emergency Alerts
EMERGENCY ALERT - Notice 2Wednesday - April 30, 20085:00 a.m. Boca Raton Campus Remains On Lock Down Due to an incident during the early morning hours of Wednesday in which an individual discharged a firearm on the Boca Raton campus, the Boca Raton campus remains closed and on lock down until further notice. Only Level 1 Tier 1 essential personnel are permitted on campus. All other FAU campuses are open and regular business operations and classes are taking place at those locations. More information regarding making up class sessions will be available on www.fau.edu shortly.
At 1:16 a.m. Florida Atlantic University's police department received notice about a possible shooting on the Boca Raton campus. Upon receiving the call, FAU police immediately began to investigate the situation and determined that shots had been fired at the student apartments.
At 1:42 a.m. FAU police activated the newly installed siren and PA system, alerting the campus community that there was an armed suspect on campus and that all campus residents and visitors should seek shelter immediately.
Messages were posted on the homepage, throughout the website and a university wide e-mail was sent out asking those on campus to seek shelter and those off campus to remain off campus. The new reverse 911 system was also utilized. In addition, notices were posted in the residence halls regarding the situation.
At this time FAU and Boca Raton police are searching for an unidentified male responsible for discharging a firearm on campus. It is believed that this is an isolated incident. No one was seriously injured during the incident, though a non student received minor injuries.
Officials at Florida Atlantic University have issued the following emergency alert on the university's website:
EMERGENCY ALERT - Notice 1Wednesday - April 30, 20082:00 a.m.There is an emergency situation on FAU’s Boca Raton Campus. For individuals currently on the campus, please stay indoors in a secure location or seek shelter in a safe location immediately.
All others are advised to remain off campus until further notice.
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