UCF campus locked down after man threatened bus with gun, police say

An armed person was found and taken into custody late Thursday night near the University of Central Florida's (UCF) campus in Orlando, according to UCF Police.

Shortly after 8 p.m., UCF Police said it had received reports of an "armed intruder" on campus, near one of its parking garages, and asked people to avoid the area or to shelter in place if nearby. Police said the focus was on Parking Garage A, which is located on the west side of campus, not far from the UCF/Lynx Transit Center and the UCF College of Community Innovation Building.

Twenty-four minutes later, UCF Police said it had received a report that a person with a gun had threatened a Lynx bus driver in the area and that UCF police officers were reviewing surveillance video and searching for the alleged suspect.  Officers located the suspect and his weapon, according to a UCF Public Safety spokesperson, and no shots were fired during his apprehension.

Patrick Sullivan and Lily Stiop-Johnson, both students at UCF, told FOX 35's Hannah Mackenzie that they were in a cappella rehearsal when they received the alert from UCF about a possible armed intruder being near one of the campus parking garages. 

"We were just in an a cappella rehearsal. So we were singing and dancing, doing choreography, then we got the notification. Then we just started saying ‘oh my gosh,’ we barricaded the doors. We got under tables and did our thing," said Sullivan.

Stiop-Johnson said she was a little nervous but that someone with them called their mom, who knew someone who could provide updates on the fluid situation. 

"A little nervous, obviously, and a situation like this, you’re nervous. We had someone in the group who is calling their mom, who has contacts and was letting us know what was going on. We were chilling and just kinda trying to be quiet and laid-back."

"We were all freaking out," said Haylee Hilock, a UCF student. She said she and others tried to barricade a door to a room they were in and decided to unscrew the wheels of some chairs to block the door while also using tables. 

Police: 'All clear." Suspect in custody.

Shortly after 9 p.m., UCF Police gave the "all clear" and said a suspect had been found with a weapon and taken into custody. The shelter-in-place order was also lifted.

"You know, the safety of our campus community means everything to us. I am proud of the response of our officers and our assisting law enforcement partners," said UCF Police Chief Carl Metzger. "We train for this, we practice it, and we're ready for these types of incidents."