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USC shooting reports: No active shooter on Columbia campus; false alarm sparked alert
No evidence of active shooter at Thomas Cooper Library, USC said in an update. But shelter-in-place remains as police search for suspect in the area.
An active shooter was reported at the Thomas Cooper Library of the University of South Carolina's Columbia campus on Sunday afternoon, the university said in an alert. In a follow-up post, the University said that there was no evidence of an active shooter despite initial reports.
the shelter-in-place continued at the university as police searched the buildings amid shooting reports. “We received an unconfirmed report of an active shooter at the Thomas Cooper library,” a university spokesperson told NBC affiliate, WIS-TV.
“At this point, we have no injuries, and we have no confirmation that there actually was a shooter at the library,” the spokesperson added.
The university community was alerted to the shooting at 6:40 p.m. local time via the public address system. The suspect was described as a 6-foot-tall white male wearing black pants.
A heavy police presence was observed on the vicinity of the campus.
The University of South Carolina’s Columbia campus sits in downtown Columbia, South Carolina, just south of the Congaree River.
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Congresswoman Shares Fake Suspect Photo
Republican House Representative Nancy Mace shared a video that went viral with claims that it is the video of the reported active shooter at the campus. However, as it turned out, the video showed an individual carrying an umbrella, and nothing more.
Mace, who has been representing South Carolina's 1st district since 2021, received backlash on social media for sharing the video.
