Annapolis, Md. — A false report of an active shooter at the U.S. Naval Academy on Thursday evening prompted a campus lockdown and left one person injured, authorities said. The injured individual was airlifted to a hospital and was in stable condition, Navy officials said, and the academy was given an "all clear" by early Friday as an investigation continued.
Lt. Naweed Lemar, a spokesperson for Naval Support Activity Annapolis, said security personnel from the base that hosts the academy and local law enforcement responded to reports of suspicious activity Thursday night. Officials said additional details about how the person was injured were not immediately available and provided no information about any suspects or arrests.
Police were seen near Bancroft Hall, the massive dormitory that houses midshipmen. The academy’s website describes Bancroft Hall as containing more than 1,600 rooms and being the largest single dormitory of any college in the world.
Students at nearby St. John’s College said multiple alarms and loudspeaker announcements warning of an "active threat" sounded after 5 p.m. Colin Campbell, a St. John’s student who was walking near the academy, described the alerts as "extraordinarily loud, multiple speakers going off at the same time." Lucille Trott, another student who lives across the street from the academy, said the alerts were frightening and heightened by recent high-profile incidents of gun violence.
"On 9/11, the week that we’ve been having, so many shootings, so much gun violence, I feel like there needs to be a major shift in just the climate right now," Trott said. "It all just makes one big pressure cooker."
Naval Support Activity Annapolis said the lockdown was lifted and the academy had been given the all clear by early Friday, but it cautioned that an investigation into the false report remained underway. The base and academy did not immediately release further specifics about the origin of the report or whether any disciplinary or criminal actions were expected.
Officials emphasized that first responders treated the situation as an active threat while responding, a standard procedure that prioritizes protecting lives and securing the campus. The Naval Academy, which trains future Navy and Marine Corps officers, has protocols for responding to threats and regularly communicates with local law enforcement agencies on security matters.
The incident follows a period of heightened public sensitivity to mass shootings and active-shooter alerts across the country. Authorities said they would provide updates as the investigation yields more information.
This report is based on statements from Naval Support Activity Annapolis and local eyewitness accounts; the investigation is ongoing and authorities had not released further findings as of Friday morning.