Ellington Woman Felt Panic During URI Lockdown

Update 2:20 p.m.:  

URI has released the following statement on its Facebook page:

The Kingston campus lock-down has ended. State police have cleared Chafee Hall. The investigation has revealed that at no time was there a gun or an active shooter on the campus. Everyone can resume their normal activities. Shuttles and RIPTA will resume shortly. Classes will resume on Friday, April 5.

Original Story:

An Ellington woman was among several students sitting in a classroom late this morning at the University of Rhode Island when someone cried out and a professor told students to run. The campus has been on lockdown since that time.

Meghan Kacmarcik of Ellington, a sophomore, said she heard a man in the back of the classroom cry out something that ended with the word “gun.”

Both Kacmarcik and sophomore Sarah Mosley of West Newbury, MA, said they did not know the identity of the man.

“I heard someone yell something unintelligible and you couldn't really hear, except the word 'gun,'” Kacmarcik said. “We just ran as fast as we could to get away. We couldn't think straight. Anyone around me could have the gun.”

Mosley said she felt panic.

“I dropped my laptop on the floor and ran out the door. We ran all the way to Davis, a five-minute run. I was worried about what was going to happen."

As of 2 p.m., police were clearing the lecture hall where the incident occurred room by room.

First hand reporting done by Portsmouth Patch Local Editor Sandy McGee, an adjunct at URI, and Rhode Island Patch Regional Editor Patrick Luce. Additional reporting contributed by North Kingstown Local Editor Samantha Turner and Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch Local Editor Stephen Greenwell.