Eastern Illinois University received a report from an unidentified caller alleging that there was an armed individual on campus Monday morning, according to a statement issued by EIU Media Relations.
Following the report, police began checking campus buildings, starting with Booth Library and moving up through Library Quad into North Quad, Old Main and then the rest of campus.
After checking buildings and reviewing surveillance videos, police were unable to locate anyone matching the description, and they determined that the report was unfounded, according to the statement.
The statement indicated that the university first received the report at approximately 9:20.
Police officers, some armed with long guns, were seen arriving on campus at about 9:11, according to observations made by a DEN staff member.
An Alert EIU notification was first issued at about 9:25.
The initial Alert EIU message indicated, “Reports from 1 caller that an armed person is on campus. Police are in buildings. Call 911 immediately if any suspicious person is spotted.”
At about 9:45, a follow-up alert was issued, saying that nobody matching the description had been found.
EIU PD sent a university wide email at approximately 11:03, advising that normal operations on campus had resumed.
Chair & Graduate Program Coordinator Catherine Polydore notified department chairs to go on lockdown due to a gun being spotted on campus just minutes before the first Alert EIU message.
Neither of the Alert EIU messages contained any instructions regarding a lockdown.
The Charleston Police Department, Mattoon Police Department and Coles County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the incident.
EIU PD and MPD did not provide comment to The News.
Charleston Police Deputy Chief Joel Shute said that officers cleared the call and did not find any substantial threat.
Coles County Sheriff Kent Martin commented on a similar event at Bowling Green State University in Ohio in which authorities received an unfounded call of an active shooter in the library. The incident at BGSU happened on the same morning as the one at EIU.
“It’s ironic they would happen at the same time and not be related,” said Martin.
The Bowling Green State University Police Department determined that there was no threat, according to a BGSU Facebook post.
The type of call at BGSU also appeared at Francis Marion University in South Carolina on Sunday, which prompted deputies to respond with SWAT on standby at the time of the call, according to WPDE.
According to WMBF News, FMU did not activate its alert system, due to a lack of activity on campus and because of training from the FBI that helped the agency confirm the call was a hoax. The agency received the training after an August swatting call at the University of South Carolina.
On Sept. 12, ABC News reported that universities across the nation have experienced an increase in swatting calls following Charlie Kirk’s death at Utah Valley University that same week.
As of Monday evening, officials in Coles County had not released any information regarding what prompted the unfounded call at EIU that morning.
Luke Brewer can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].
