False active-shooter calls target universities across South Florida

Dozens of police cars and fire rescue trucks raced to university campus buildings across South Florida and the rest of the state Tuesday morning in response to a spate of hoax active shooter calls.

So far, police have responded to the campuses of Florida International University in Miami-Dade County and Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, as well as the Broward College and Florida Atlantic University building in the 100 block of Las Olas Boulevard in downtown Fort Lauderdale, due to “suspicious” calls or hoax active shooter calls.

At FIU, the school ordered students to evacuate.

“A dangerous situation is occurring on or near campus!” the university tweeted. “Evacuate the area NOW.”

The school later confirmed in a tweet that they had received a call about an active shooter that appeared to be false.

At Palm Beach Atlantic, over 60 police officers, fire rescue vehicles and school police responded to the call, according to Mike Jachles, a spokesperson for the West Palm Beach police department.

“It appears to be a hoax, there was no shooting,” he said. “But obviously we have to take every threat seriously.”

He didn’t know at the time how the call had come in.

Schools in other regions of the state received similar calls. Indian River State College locked down after receiving a hoax 911 call about an active shooter, the school tweeted.

This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.