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DU Campus Police Issue All Clear After Reports Of Man With Gun On Campus

DENVER (CBS4)- The University of Denver campus police issued an all clear on Thursday afternoon after they investigated reports of a man with a gun on campus.

"It was that there was a male on his way to the Ritchie Center with an AK-47 and his girlfriend was in the pool area of the Ritchie Center and he was coming to kill her," said DU spokesman Will Jones.

The initial report came in at 3:30 p.m. where DU Campus Safety issued an alert via Twitter that they were searching for a man with a gun who entered the Ritchie Center.

Copter4 flew over the Ritchie Center where several Denver Police vehicles and officers were seen patrolling outside the building.

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Copter4 flew over the Ritchie Center at DU on Thursday (credit: CBS)

Campus-wide notifications were sent via cell phone text, email, social media and other means advising anyone in the Ritchie Center to lock down and anyone else on campus to seek shelter in the nearest building.

Denver Police then searched the Ritchie Center for the possible gunman but found no one. Police are investigating whether the call was a prank.

"They're called 'SWAT-ing' calls. I'm not saying that's what this was but they're electronically generated messages from people who just want to get an alarmed response," said Denver Police Cmdr. Joe Montoya.

du campus safety
(credit: CBS)

Less than an hour later DU Campus Safety issued another alert for a man with a gun matching a different description.

One student called 911, reporting that he thought he saw a gunman on the other side of the campus.

"He said his initial reaction started when he got the text from the school that there was someone on campus with a weapon, so he kind of had a heightened state," said Montoya.

"It's kind of not great timing for us, this doesn't really happen," said DU Lacrosse player Wes Berg.

Less than 20 minutes later campus police issued an all clear.

Officers did not find a man with a gun matching either description.

These alerts come after a similar alert on Tuesday night of a man with a gun on campus. That alert was cleared after it was confirmed that the man was carrying a hockey stick, not a gun.

DU said they will always take these types of calls seriously because safety is their top priority.

"If we hear something, if we see something, we're going to do something," said Jones.

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