Students evacuated at The View due to prank call alleging an active shooter

At least 300 students were evacuated from The View at Montgomery, an off-campus apartment building on Montgomery Avenue near 12th Street, on Monday following reports of an active shooter that were later deemed false.

Philadelphia Police Lieutenant Larry Tankelewicz told The Temple News that an alleged active shooter on the 14th floor of the building was reported to police. After an investigation, it was determined to be a prank phone call.

Residents were allowed back into the building about 30 minutes after the evacuation.

“No threat or any incidents were found,” Temple University Police tweeted.

Philadelphia and Temple Police responded to The View Apts. for a 911 call regarding an armed threat. No threat or any incidents were found. Residents are back in the building. All okay.

— Temple Police (@TU_Police) September 3, 2018

Tankelewicz said the phone of the person who placed the false threat could not be tracked, therefore no legal action could be taken.

Temple and Philadelphia police units and the Philadelphia Fire Department investigated and cleared the building after the threat.

Current scene right now outside of The View @TempleUniv . Not sure as of yet what is going on pic.twitter.com/DDCsjIKviv

— Conall Smith (@Smith_Conall) September 3, 2018

Jackson Neill, a freshman media studies and production major, said he was instructed to evacuate by an intercom message that stated there was an “emergency situation” in the building. As he was exiting, he passed several police officers in the lobby, one of whom was holding a large gun.

“You don’t understand what it’s like to see someone with a giant gun,” he said. “I ran. That made me think, ‘Wow, it’s one of those serious situations.’”

Neill said he feels unprepared in a real active shooter situation because he has never been educated on emergency exits near his first-floor apartment.

Alyssa Herman, a sophomore undeclared student in the College of Liberal Arts who lives on the 13th floor, said she thought it was a fire alarm.

“I didn’t feel stressed until a cop asked if I had heard gunshots,” Herman said. “I was scared.”

Herman said it took her at least 10 minutes to get to the first floor.

“We don’t have RAs or anything so no one told me what to do in case of an emergency,” she said. “I didn’t feel totally unprepared, but all I could do was take the fire escape.”