Oblivious to uproar
How a barcode scanner was mistaken for a gun: Details on the false alarm UH campus "gunman"
A man armed with a barcode scanner single-handedly almost shut down the University of Houston campus Tuesday afternoon.
Students and faculty were thrown into a state of panic just after noon, when a text went out through the university's emergency warning system, reporting a man with a handgun near the central quad.
After putting the campus on lockdown for nearly 30 minutes, university authorities canceled the alert via text, noting that the man was identified and that there was no gun.
And what was this mysterious fellow carrying after all? A run-of-the-mill barcode scanner.
A campus spokesperson tells KPRC Eyewitness News that the suspect was unaware he set off the alarm system . . . Poor guy.
University of Houston officials did not return repeated requests for further comment.
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