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LOGAN — A technician installing a new safety alert system accidentally triggered an alert to students that said an "armed aggressor" was on campus Wednesday afternoon, Utah State University officials said.
The alert was sent as crews were installing the emergency notification system in the USU Public Safety dispatch center, which sends out an alert and contacts police when there is an alert, according to Tim Vitale, USU spokesman. During that installation process, the alarm went off.
"As they were installing it, the technician somehow crossed wires. They didn't even hit a button and somehow, whatever they did, inadvertently sent the alert out," Vitale said. "We're still trying to figure out what the predicament was. It was a mistake, and we sent a follow-up all-clear."
The alert was sent to more than 28,000 students, USU spokeswoman Amanda DeRito added.
In addition to alerts students received, the university sent out a tweet. The message read, "Code Blue: We’ve received reports of an armed aggressor on the USU Logan campus. Run, hide, or fight. Police responding. More info to come."
A few minutes later, the university clarified both in an alert and via social media that it was a false alarm and students could "resume normal activities."
All Clear: During testing of the Code Blue system, an alert was accidentally sent. Disregard previous message. Resume normal activities.
— Utah State University (@USUAggies) February 20, 2019
USU student Britton Porter said he and fellow classmates received the alert while they were in a class. He said it led to brief panic among the students.
“We were actually freaking out in the class because there was no way we could lock any of the doors,” he said. “We were all freaked out a bit but we just sat there, I guess.”
Tanner Hooper, another USU student, said his teacher turned off the lights of the classroom and blocked the door to the room they were in after the alert was sent. Some of the students worried what to do at first, but they quickly calmed down and were relieved when the all-clear alert was sent, he added.
Campus officials learned of the error from campus police and sent out the all-clear as soon as they knew, DeRito said.
"We are deeply sorry for the disruption caused by the alert ... This experience has highlighted some areas where we can improve our safety response, and we will be following up on how we can better prepare our campus community," USU Police Chief Mike Kuehn added in a statement sent out to students and faculty.
While the university acknowledged the alert was an error, Vitale said students responded to the alert well by taking cover.
"In a way, the good news is that people did seem to be responding appropriately," he said.
Contributing: Eric Morgan, KSL
