UMass Boston was put on alert Thursday following reports of gunfire on campus around 3:45 p.m. near Morrissey Boulevard. At 3:40 p.m., students were alerted to avoid the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. Police and emergency services flooded the campus in large numbers. By 5:11 p.m., students were told the campus was clear. “There is no ongoing threat to the community,” read the UMB Emergency Alert.

First responders arrived on campus en masse. Students and faculty evacuated buildings with their hands raised. Residential students were told to shelter in place. Police were seen entering residence halls, rifles out. “This is a very active scene, it’s not something you can dismiss right now,” former Boston police commissioner Ed Davis told WCVB 5.

University Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco thanked the campus community for their cooperation and support during the investigation and first responders for their swift and thorough response. “We know how unsettling this incident was, especially for those on campus who experienced the large public safety response and campus-wide sweep, as well as for all of your families, friends, and loved ones,” he said.

Suárez-Orozco confirmed no evidence of gunfire was found on campus or in any adjacent buildings and that no injuries had been reported.

Christopher Do ’27, said he was in class when the incident occurred. “There was a public threat warning around the dorm rooms, and then it moved to U-Hall,” he said. “Midway through, our teacher decided it’d be better if we locked ourselves in the class to keep safe.”

Last week, reports of a gunman on campus racked UMass Lowell but only amounted to a child with an airsoft gun. Other campuses have not been so lucky; There have been 24 shootings on college campuses this year alone. “I kind of despise how this is so normalized,” said Do. “There shouldn’t be any world in which students have to live in fear of being shot, like, in any circumstance.”

Classes and other programming were cancelled Thursday evening, but have since resumed. Counselling will be made available to students affected.

This incident remains under investigation.