Reports of a shooting at Mississippi State University on Thursday led to the arrest of an unarmed student who authorities accused of making suicidal and homicidal threats.
Despite swirling reports on social media, no shots were ever fired,
Mississippi State chief communications officer Sid Salter told WHNT-TV, adding, though, that campus police did receive information of a "credible threat."
Authorities told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger that freshman computer engineering student Fhu-Qui "Bill" Nguyen was arrested in connection with the credible threat report around 10:26 a.m.
WCBI-TV reported that Nguyen will appear in court to face disorderly conduct charges. Mississippi State police chief Vance Rice told the television station that the student will be referred to a medical facility for a routine mental and psychological evaluation.
"This is an unfortunate situation," Mississippi State president Mark Keenum said, according to the Clarion-Ledger. "And I think we've dealt with it in a very professional manner in a way that's keeping our responsibility again to the safety of all of our students, faculty and staff."
School officials told the newspaper that they received calls around 10:10 a.m. Thursday about a man on campus making threats. All campus police units were dispatched.
"I want to say we take these kind of calls and these kind of situations extremely seriously here at Mississippi State," Keenum said. "The safety of our students is paramount. It's the No. 1 responsibility that I have, that our university has, is the safety and the well-being of our students, our faculty and our staff."
"Many reports circulated on social media saying shots were heard," WHNT-TV reported. "Video circulated showing students running on campus when reports of an active shooter surfaced.
"Mississippi State's emergency alert system on Thursday warned of a potential active shooter on campus and asked people to seek safety. The university said that a suspected shooter was in custody, but then said there were no reports of shots being fired," the television station continued.
Keenum said in a statement obtained by WCBI-TV that the university will review how it responded to the call on Friday.
"Tomorrow, our Crisis Action Team will return to the table to examine what we learned during these tense hours and how we can use that knowledge to make us all even safer tomorrow," the president stated.
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