UNCW gives all clear after police find no evidence of shooting near campus

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) - Officials with the University of North Carolina at Wilmington have given the all clear after reports about a possible shooting near the university’s campus Wednesday afternoon.

Jennifer Dandron, spokeswoman for the Wilmington Police Department, said officers were alerted around 1:05 p.m. about possible shots fired at the Campus Edge Apartments off Racine Drive.

Dandron later confirmed that officers found no evidence that a shooting took place.

UNCW officials sent a campus-wide alert about the incident and a university spokeswoman added that there was no immediate threat to the campus.

The university issued an all clear message at 2:05 p.m.

Campus police later issued a statement, saying a witness reported seeing a person with a gun and hearing gunfire. Four other people also reported hearing a gunshot.

“No gunman has been located and no injuries have been reported,” the statement read. “There is nothing to indicate that anyone affiliated with the university was involved in the alleged incident. The WPD investigation is ongoing, but there remains no active threat to campus."

Meagan Gilbert, a resident at Campus Edge, said she didn’t hear any gunfire at the apartment complex.

“Nothing, I was inside doing paperwork pretty much all morning," she explained. "I didn’t see anything, not today at least. Last night there was something that had happened here but I haven’t heard any shots fired. Sometimes people hear things, you know. But it’s not unusual for cops and ambulances to be here let’s just say that.”

UNCW student Breanna Carollo said she became concerned when she saw the alert because she and her classmates were unsure what they should do.

“I was in class when the alert went out and we were unsure of where to go, what to do,” Carollo said. "Our professor didn’t even seem phased either and I was thinking in my head ‘what happens if this happens on campus? What are we going to do if this becomes a really serious scenario?’”

Carollo texted her parents when the alert went out, saying she was fine and everything was ok. She also added that some weren’t taking the alert as seriously as they probably should have.

“100 percent, I do think people have become desensitized to it. Just seeing everybody kind of laugh, I mean even I’m kind of laughing about it and I think that’s the really sad part because it’s something we should take seriously,” Carollo explained. "But we see this stuff everyday and are just like ‘oh it’s just a normal Wednesday afternoon for us’ and that 100 percent could be something that could be fatal to someone.”

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