A scary wait
False alarm: Texas A&M gives all clear after "gunman" found to be carrying areplica weapon
The Texas A&M was thrown a serious scare with the sighting of a reported"gunman" on the campus.
Texas A&M sent out an all clear after finding out that the reported gunman wascarrying a replica rifle.
After a tense hour and a half at Texas A&M University — triggered by a campus bus driver reporting the sighting of a gunman on campus with an assault rifle — school officials sent out an all clear on its emergency notification system.
The police located the alleged gunman and reportedly found him to be carrying a replica weapon. Texas A&M's Corps of Cadets use replica weapons in their training.
University spokesperson Jason Cook told the Austin American-Statesman that he cannot confirm that the man carrying the replica was a cadet yet, but said the weapon is similar to the ones the cadets use.
The all-clear text from university officials came after a SWAT unit was called in and police conducted a frantic search on campus for the gunman, who the bus driver noticed near Rubber Tower. National news organizations such as CNN broke into programming to detail the initial reports of a gunman on the A&M campus.
Considering the focus on school shootings — including the gunman who walked through the University of Texas' campus, carrying an AK-47, only to kill himself in the library last month — the university's frantic, serious response was really the only one officials could take.
"In light of recent events, we responded very aggressively," Cook said.
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