Active Shooter Alert Mistakenly Sent Out to Thomas Jefferson University

Active Shooter Alert Mistakenly Sent Out to Thomas Jefferson University

An active shooter alert was erroneously sent out to Thomas Jefferson University’s East Falls campus Sunday morning while the university was testing its JeffAlert system.

  • By Kaitlyn DeHaven
  • July 10, 2019

An active shooter alert was mistakenly sent out to Thomas Jefferson University’s East Falls campus Sunday morning.

According to university spokeswoman Angela Showell, the university was testing its JeffAlert system because there were widespread power outages Saturday night due to storms. During testing, the alert was sent out accidentally. Since it is the summer holiday, Showell said there aren't many residents on campus right now.

The message encouraged students, faculty and university employees to follow emergency procedures.

“There’s an active shooter on the East Falls campus. Follow emergency procedures. Run. Hide. Act,” the message said.

Twenty minutes after the original message was sent out, an all-clear message was sent out, followed by a note to disregard the 10:15 a.m. message. A tweet further explained how the message had erroneously been sent out.

Showell said campus security and Philadelphia Police responded and conducted a thorough check before allowing the “all clear” to be sent out.

“The good news is the system works,” Showell said.

About the Author

Kaitlyn DeHaven is the Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

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