Gunman report puts USF on alert

[Hazcat]

 TAMPA — Police have arrested a male suspect at the University of South Florida, and are sending a bomb disposal unit to check the man's belongings.

But nearly two hours after the first reports of an armed intruder on campus, police were still responding to reports of other potential threats, including one of a white male in the Cooper Hall area carrying a puppy and a large hunting knife.

Initial reports focused on the campus library, but police were then sent to the transportation center on the north side of the Tampa campus.

A hostage negotiator was dispatched to the scene, said Lt. Meg Ross, a spokeswoman for the USF Police Department.

"We're trying to take action until we confirm otherwise," she said.

Earlier, a report of an armed intruder on the Tampa campus prompted the University of South Florida to send out a warning in a mass text message at 1:51 p.m.

"Emergency: Armed intruder on campus. Stay inside. Lock doors. Emergency Personnel Responding.''

The initial alert followed a 1:36 p.m. call to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office of an armed person at the campus library. The call was routed to the USF Police Department.

She said there were no reports of shots being fired or people being hurt, and the department was still in the process of verifying the report of an armed intruder.

"We are still trying to secure the area," she said.

Bay News 9 reports that the person with a gun was outside the library building.

Junior Hannah Quill said she was just leaving her calculus class in building CW-Y, which houses the campus Reserved Officers Training Corps programs, when she heard a loud, audible alarm outside.

"I walked outside and heard one of those massive alarms,'' she said, and a message "that said, 'Armed intruder on campus,'" she said. "It sounded like one of those tornado alarms up north, really loud.

"Everyone is like in classrooms on lockdown," she said. "I saw quite a few police cars heading towards the front of campus."

A few moments later, she got a text message on her cell phone.

"Report of an armed campus intruder at the library," Quill said, reading from the message. "Avoid area and report anything suspicious."

No other details were immediately available. Please return to tampabay.com for updates.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article1041681.ece

Comments at link

[tombogan03884]

 Lots of "reports", but it seems nothing actually happened.

[fightingquaker13]

Yet another reason to allow CCW on college campuses. I am very much against allowing guns in dorms due to drugs, alchohol, teen angst, poor security etc. BUT if you were to put a minimum age of say 25 on it, and exclude undergrad housing, profs and older commuter students would be there. Locking me down in my classroom is one thing, locking me down with my Glock is something else. It is perhaps foolish to hope folks will learn from this,but .....
FQ13

[tt11758]

Yet another reason to allow CCW on college campuses. I am very much against allowing guns in dorms due to drugs, alchohol, teen angst, poor security etc. BUT if you were to put a minimum age of say 25 on it, and exclude undergrad housing, profs and older commuter students would be there. Locking me down in my classroom is one thing, locking me down with my Glock is something else. It is perhaps foolish to hope folks will learn from this,but .....
FQ13

The Main issue I have with your plan, even though it might be a step in the right direction, is that it will only encourage those bent on mayhem to move their target acquisition zones from classrooms, libraries, etc., to undergrad dorms.   And the arbitrary 25 year old minimum age simply means that those under 25 don't have the same rights of self-defense as those 25 and over.  While I share your concern about guns in dorms, we must remember that, even in college dormitories, an armed society is more likely to be a polite society.

So I agree with you about 50%.....which is more than we've agreed on some other things.

Does that mean there's hope for you, or hope for me?   

[fightingquaker13]

The Main issue I have with your plan, even though it might be a step in the right direction, is that it will only encourage those bent on mayhem to move their target acquisition zones from classrooms, libraries, etc., to undergrad dorms.   And the arbitrary 25 year old minimum age simply means that those under 25 don't have the same rights of self-defense as those 25 and over.  While I share your concern about guns in dorms, we must remember that, even in college dormitories, an armed society is more likely to be a polite society.

So I agree with you about 50%.....which is more than we've agreed on some other things.

Does that mean there's hope for you, or hope for me?    

I hope the latter. Remember though, I teach these folks everyday. College kids are by definition idiots. Two words, Beer Bong. The thing is, I remember my own lunacy back in the day and I see it every at work. If I had a dollar for every time I've seen one my students bare ass naked or shitfaced drunk (generally at the same time) I would have a gun collection like BillT's. The words "Hold my beer and watch this" were designed for a college dorm. Personally, I think I'd be safer with the theoretical whack  job.
FQ13 who speaks from experience

[Sponsor]

[tt11758]

I hope the latter. Remember though, I teach these folks everyday. College kids are by definition idiots. Two words, Beer Bong. The thing is, I remember my own lunacy back in the day and I see it every at work. If I had a dollar for every time I've seen one my students bare ass naked or shitfaced drunk (generally at the same time) I would have a gun collection like BillT's. The words "Hold my beer and watch this" were designed for a college dorm. Personally, I think I'd be safer with the theoretical whack  job.
FQ13 who speaks from experience

Of course they are.......look who they have teaching them.   

[Timothy]

I hope the latter. Remember though, I teach these folks everyday. College kids are by definition idiots. Two words, Beer Bong. The thing is, I remember my own lunacy back in the day and I see it every at work. If I had a dollar for every time I've seen one my students bare ass naked or shitfaced drunk (generally at the same time) I would have a gun collection like BillT's. The words "Hold my beer and watch this" were designed for a college dorm. Personally, I think I'd be safer with the theoretical whack  job.
FQ13 who speaks from experience

Off topic....

I hate to remind you but this statement alone, proves WHY the college kids don't deserve the acolades they get in today's workforce.  I work twenty feet away from one of these idiots who makes believe he actually knows what he's doing.  I prove to him daily that he's not only under-educated but completely inept...and he went to a good school, Northeastern...

I'll hire someone WITHOUT a degree in a heartbeat if they can prove their worthy.  Someone flashes a degree in my face, I'm going to take it with much reservation and probably take a pass.....

[ericire12]

Of course they are.......look who they have teaching them.   

http://www.downrange.tv/forum/index.php?topic=9198.msg118825#msg118825

[tombogan03884]

FQ 3 words," Equal protection clause"
On campus carry must be allowed for any one who qualifies for a permit, and cannot be prohibited in Residential areas.
In fact, regardless of school policy I do not believe students who legally own them can be prevented from having fire arms in their living quarters now if the school accepts Govt. funding.
That was the basis of the San Francisco gun case.

[ericire12]

FQ 3 words," Equal protection clause"
On campus carry must be allowed for any one who qualifies for a permit, and cannot be prohibited in Residential areas.
In fact, regardless of school policy I do not believe students who legally own them can be prevented from having fire arms in their living quarters now if the school accepts Govt. funding.
That was the basis of the San Francisco gun case.

Guns for me, but not for thee!