Questions remain after false threat of armed person at UCF

ORLANDO, Fla. — A threat about a woman with a gun on the University of Central Florida campus library Tuesday sparked a massive police presence and the evacuation of the library.

The threats turned out not to be true, and the only gun that went off was that of a police officer, who accidentally discharged the weapon.

The school’s police department tweeted: “We received a social media report of a gunwoman at library. We're responding to scene, and library is evacuated.”

Students flooded out of the library and gathered just outside its doors.

“Officers went floor to floor looking for an activity that matches up with that, and they didn’t find anything,” said Courtney Gilmartin, a spokesperson for the UCF Police Department.

At 5 p.m., about an hour after the initial report about a person with a gun on campus, police said there was no threat found and began clearing the scene.

Students were alerted via text message and email about the threat.

The library was on lockdown from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

A gunshot was heard at the scene, but officials said it was an accidental discharge.

No one was injured when the gun discharged, police said.

They blamed that gunfire on a weapon discharging as an officer put it back in his patrol car.

“We’re not sure if that was an issue with the gun or an issue with the rack, but we’re going to look into it,” Gilmartin said.

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The gun went off several feet away from hundreds of students still standing outside the doors of the library.

Channel 9 asked Gilmartin why those students weren’t moved away from police and from the building.

“You know, any time something like this happens, we will review our actions and maybe make a suggestion for the future,” Gilmartin said.

Gilmartin could not say why the the entire campus didn’t go on lockdown.

From Skywitness 9, students were seen crowded outside the library as police investigated.

“We responded to unconfirmed social media reports, and we have officers in the building. We are clearing it right now and hope to have the building back open in the very near future," said UCF Police Chief Richard Beary as the scene was unfolding.

No other information has been released about the social media post that sparked the incident.

Cox Media Group