UC Berkeley Lockdown Lifted After Cops Locate Person Behind Threats

UPDATE: The suspect behind the threats the led to Thursday's lockdown has not been identified and it is not known whether the suspect was armed or if any arrests have been made in connection with the case, UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof told reporters Thursday afternoon, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Mogulof cited “unique and complicated privacy concerns” for withholding information about the suspect, The Chronicle reports.

UPDATE: University of California at Berkeley officials said campus police located the person who allegedly made threats toward others at the university, prompting a campuswide shelter-in-place order that lasted about four hours and canceled classes for the remainder of the day Thursday.

UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said the person police were seeking was located off-campus at 2 p.m. Citing police, Mogulof said the person, who was affiliated with the university, poses no immediate threat to campus safety.

— Bay City News

UPDATE: Shelter orders have been lifted at UC Berkeley, campus police announced in a 1:41 p.m. alert.

Authorities were seeking a person who "may want to harm a specific individual," campus police said in an earlier alert. It is not clear whether the person was located or whether anyone was taken into custody in connection with the disturbance.

“The shelter in place has been lifted,” the alert said. “Please leave the campus in a safe and orderly way via the closest route available. UCPD has determined based upon its investigation that it is appropriate to end the shelter in place. Buildings will remain locked.”

UPDATE: The Berkeley Unified School District has put its seven schools under "soft lockdown" Thursday amid an unfolding UC Berkeley incident that triggered campus-wide shelter-in-place orders, BUSD Superintendent Brent Stephens said in a statement.

UPDATE: The person at the center of incident at UC Berkeley that triggered campus-wide shelter orders was heard on the UC Police Department scanner, UC Berkeley's student newspaper reports.

UC Berkeley has been under lockdown all day Thursday due to an unspecified emergency, campus police said.

Police said they're seeking someone who "may want to harm specific individual."

The Daily Californian reports that the person has barricaded themself at the Cesar E. Chavez Student Center's room 501, and that the person was heard on a UCPD scanner claiming that "I am the reason why this is all happening!"

UPDATE: Berkeleyside’s Ally Markovich reported seeing three helicopters flying overhead in a 10:54 a.m. tweet.

A KRON report updated at 10:52 a.m. describes a chaotic scene on campus in which students are still roaming the campus amid admonitions of officers to go inside.

"In-person classes are canceled through the remainder of the day and instructors are encouraged to accommodate students and if possible record their remote classes to provide access to students at a later time," the Berkeley Police Department said in a statement.

UPDATE: The campus-wide warning came through on cell phones just as students were heading into their morning classes, prompting hundreds to turn around and run back to their dorms. Students reported huddling down in their dorm rooms while trying to find out if a shooting had occurred or if a shooter was on campus.

UPDATE: An administrator texted the UC Berkeley community advising that the threat is related to a disgruntled student recently suspended for threatening behavior.

“The Warnme that just went out is relative to an emerging active shooter threat situation related to a student who has been placed on interim suspension for threatening behavior. Please encourage people to follow the shelter in place. We will be shutting all the buildings,” Assistant Executive Vice Chancellor Andrea Lambert said.

“We will send more info soon, but wanted to share this much as the situation emerges.”

UPDATE: UC Police at 10:18 a.m. issued an alert that said "there is NOT an active shooter on campus" after rumors floating on social media suggested that was the case.

UC police said: "There is NOT an active shooter on campus. Police are actively looking for a person who may want to harm specific individuals. Please continue to shelter in place at this time. Stay tuned to Twitter for updates."

BERKELEY, CA — Shelter-in-place orders were issued for the UC Berkeley campus Thursday morning due to an unspecified emergency, campus police said.

UC Berkeley police issued the alert at 9:30 a.m.

"An Emergency has occurred near Campus-wide," the agency said.

"Please go inside and move away from doors and windows"

Police have released no additional information as of 10 a.m. but KTVU investigative reporter Evan Sernoffsky tweeted that a "credible campus-wide threat" exists.

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office had not yet been contacted for mutual aid as of 10 a.m., Sgt. Ray Kelly said.

No additional information was immediately available.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

— Patch Editor Paige Austin contributed to this report.