This is excellent news, but bizarre at the same time.
As 100PercentFedUp previously reported, the University of South Carolina issued a campus-wide alert about an active shooter at its library.
In the alert, it warned of a suspect who was a white man around 6ft tall wearing black pants and warned students to barricade themselves.
However, just 30 minutes after the alert and a massive police response, there was no active shooter to be found and no reported shots actually being fired.
WJBF provided the latest update:
Students at the University of South Carolina were told to shelter in place Sunday while police investigated an unconfirmed report of an active shooter near a library on the main campus in Columbia. Officials said there was no evidence of a shooter, and there were no immediate reports of any shots being fired.
The school sent an alert of a possible shooter shortly after 6:45 p.m. ordering students to evacuate the area near the Thomas Cooper Library, seek shelter and barricade themselves if necessary. It was followed by another alert saying there was no evidence of an active shooter “at this time. Police are searching affected buildings. Please continue to shelter in place until there is an all clear.”
University spokesman Jeff Stensland said in a statement that the original alert “was sent out of an abundance of caution” and that law enforcement was clearing the library building, going floor by floor, “again out of an abundance of caution, we’re going through the library to make sure.”
Stensland said there were no injuries.
🚨 BREAKING: The ALL CLEAR has been given at University of South Carolina – Columbia after an active shooter alert
The good news is NO students have been shot
The bad news is, this hoax caused multiple injuries from students running from the “danger”
This MUST be investigated pic.twitter.com/bAwEi9cQHi
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) August 25, 2025
Users on X claimed this young man carrying an umbrella triggered the alert:
🚨 YET ANOTHER ACTIVE SH00TER HOAX?
University of South Carolina – Columbia put out an alert saying there was an active shooter reported in the library.
Now they’re saying there is “NO EVIDENCE” of a shooter
There’s just this video of a man carrying an object.
Why does this… pic.twitter.com/JrwxkHRDUt
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) August 24, 2025
Here he is laughing it up:
University of South Carolina Umbrella Guy pic.twitter.com/LFiqyF1MIN
— Eleni Ferderigos (@blue_75738) August 25, 2025
University of South Carolina issued an active shooter alert tonight because this man… Carrying an umbrella. 🙄 pic.twitter.com/l1qDbWBUfY
— Gays For Trump (@GaysForTrump24) August 24, 2025
CNN reported that a few students were injured attempting to run for cover:
“We received an unconfirmed report of an active shooter at the Thomas Cooper library,” a university spokesperson, Jeff Stensland, told CNN affiliate WIS-TV. “At this point, we have no injuries, and we have no confirmation that there actually was a shooter at the library.”
EMS crews are treating a couple of students for minor injuries that occurred during evacuation, the university said in an update.
ADVERTISEMENTThe university issued its first alert just after 6:30 p.m. and followed up with a description of a possible suspect.
