NYU issued an all-clear following reports of shots fired near 1 MetroTech Center in Brooklyn, near the Tandon School of Engineering. The New York City Police Department has lifted a shelter-in-place order in the area and police will remain nearby, according to a notification sent to students through the university’s emergency alert system.
“Police have lifted the lockdown order and indicated there is no ongoing threat,” NYU spokesperson John Beckman said in a statement to WSN. “There is no report of anyone injured of which we are aware, we are relieved to report.”
An NYPD spokesperson said an initial call reporting shots fired came in at around 3 p.m., and that there were no people or property hit in the incident.
Campus Safety head Fountain Walker said the area was put into lockdown shortly after the university received reports of multiple shots fired in a universitywide statement sent around an hour after the initial alerts. Walker said it appeared that some windows in the 370 Jay St. building were damaged.
“The police are actively investigating the incident,” Walker wrote. “People in the vicinity of MetroTech may resume their regular activities.”
The initial alert informing students and faculty of shots fired in the area was sent to students at 3:18 p.m., and said to “ESCAPE if you can, HIDE if you can’t, FIGHT if you must,” as per New York state’s official recommendations for active shooter situations. Only a few minutes later, at 3:24 p.m., NYU sent out another text notification informing students that there was no longer an “imminent threat” at MetroTech Center. The university also sent the same messages over email.
Last year, the NYPD reported five shots fired in an incident near 2 MetroTech Center, in which the university reported there were no injuries. In September 2021, a student was shot in the arm outside 5 MetroTech Center near Tandon. The student was sent to the hospital after the incident and made a full recovery.
Tanishi Mishra, a junior at Tandon, said she was in class when NYU sent out the initial alert. Mishra criticized the university and faculty for their responses to past shootings, and said her professor immediately resumed teaching after reading the emergency message.
“Unfortunately, it’s a pretty frequent occurrence here. It happens every year,” Mishra said. “The professors don’t ask anyone how their mental health is or how they’re being impacted by this because it’s so close to the area that we’re in. That is really traumatizing for a lot of people.”
Contact Carmo Moniz and Yezen Saadah at [email protected].
