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ALARMING ALERT

What is happening at Cornell University?

ON SUNDAY, November 7, 2021, Cornell University tweeted an active alert telling students and staff to evacuate specific areas.

Two days later, Cornell students received another alert - this time, in reference to a possible man with a gun.

Cornell University tweeted out an alert for students and staff to shelter in place
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Cornell University tweeted out an alert for students and staff to shelter in placeCredit: Getty Images

What is happening at Cornell University?

Just after 2pm ET on Tuesday, November 9, 2021, students and faculty received an alert notifying them to shelter in place.

The alert read: "This is a CornellALERT message from Cornell Police for the Cornell Ithaca campus. Shelter in Place - Local Police persuing man with gun in Cayuga Heights north of campus.

"North Campus residents lock doors and windows and call 911 if you observe a subject with a gun."

This comes following a scare at the school on Sunday, November 7.

On Sunday, New York's Cornell University sent out a tweet informing people to evacuate and avoid certain areas on the school's campus.

The tweet read: "CornellALERT: EVACUATE AND AVOID THE LAW SCHOOL,GOLDWIN SMITH, UPSON HALL AND KENNEDY HALL PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE CORNELL POLICE UNLESS YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY".

One user responded to the university's tweet, saying: "I’ve heard from a current student that there is a bomb threat around Goldwin smith and an active shooter at the law school. I don’t know anything about upson or Kennedy."

Cornell University later revealed the bomb threat was a false alarm.

“We are relieved to report that this threat appears to have been a hoax. A cruel hoax; but thankfully, just a hoax," the school said in a statement on Sunday.

On November 9, 2021, Cornell Police tweeted that the shelter in place was lifted, writing: "CornellALERT: Ithaca campus. Shelter in place for the Cornell campus has been lifted.

Adding: "Cornell Police will continue heightened presence on campus."

Have police responded to the possible gunman near campus?

There is currently no additional information on the reports of a possible man with a gun near Cornell's campus.

Cornell stated that local police are currently investigating the situation.

Ithaca City School District took to their Twitter account to declare that other schools in the area had also gone on a lockdown due to police operations.

"Cayuga Heights Elementary School, Boynton Middle School, and Ithaca High School are in shelter-in-place at this time," the tweet reads.

"Parents/caregivers should not come to the buildings until further notice."

Cornell University received bomb threats on Sunday afternoon
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Cornell University received bomb threats on Sunday afternoonCredit: Getty Images - Getty

Did other schools also receive a bomb threat over the weekend?

Following the Cornell alerts to leave campus on Sunday, two other ivy league schools had evacuations due to alleged bomb threats.

Columbia University, also in New York, reportedly evacuated their campus around the same time as Cornell.

A tweet from the university stated:

"On Sunday, November 7, at approximately 2:30 p.m., #ColumbiaUniversity Public Safety issued a campus-wide emergency alert after receiving bomb threats at University buildings. NYPD is investigating. Avoid the area until further notice."

Hours later, a similar situation took place at Brown University in Rhode Island.

The school's newspaper, the Brown Daily Herald, reported at around 4pm ET on Sunday:

"BREAKING: Following a bomb threat on campus, Brown has evacuated all buildings on the Main Green. This follows threats at Yale, Cornell and Columbia. Story to follow."

The tweet also featured an image of a text message from Brown's alert system stating that police are investigating all of the buildings on the Main Green.

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On Friday, November 5, 2021, Yale University reportedly also received bomb threats and the campus was evacuated.

All of the incidents were deemed to be false alarms, and the lockdowns were subsequently lifted. Police are still investigating the incidents.

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