On Thursday night, UNCW issued a shelter-in-place order after images and videos of an alleged armed attacker circulated on social media.
Volety said he, too, had to hunker down with about 35 faculty members, staff, and students inside the Burney Center. He said that the campus community collectively experienced “fear, dread, concern, and anger” while hundreds of campus, local, state, and federal law enforcement officers swept the campus and investigated the threats.
He walked the public through how it started.
“The incident began with a series of anonymous reports and tips about a gunman on campus. University police continued to work to validate the threat to our campus. When a report from a credible individual was received, we then sent out a campus alert. Reports continued to come in. Campus was secured and cleared. Finally, the university was declared free and clear of any threat,” he said.
Volety said their response is now moving to a new phase.
“Our law enforcement partners are shifting from a safety and intervention position to investigating what started this chain of events,” he said.
The videos, including one showing someone carrying a rifle through a parking garage, claimed to have been taken at UNCW. This led to a heavy law enforcement presence sweeping the campus and investigating the threats, with authorities becoming involved. UNCW later called the images misinformation.
The posts followed several days of tension on campus, as students clashed over a memorial to Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist who was killed last week. Several students painted over the memorial, drawing criticism from conservatives and the UNCW chancellor, who said he was “appalled” at their behavior.
Subsequently, several online threats were made towards students, faculty, and administrators who opposed Kirk. Those threats, along with images and videos from last night, remain under investigation by UNCW.
Out of caution, Volety cancelled classes for Friday, and some university facilities will have reduced hours. Isaac Bear High School, located on UNCW’s campus, had a remote day for students planned. It preceded Thursday evening’s events — it was in response to those online threats saying an NC militia group would come to campus on Friday following the painting over of the campus rock dedicated to Kirk.
Volety said hoped that Friday would be a “new and better day" for the UNCW community.
Link to Volety’s full remarks
