All Clear Given After Report Of Armed Person At Stevenson University

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Authorities have given the all clear at the Stevenson University Greenspring Campus after the university received a report of an armed person on campus.

The false alarm created some very real panic, following a report of someone armed with eight guns, which sent the college into lockdown.

The university sent a text and email alert out within minutes of the reported threat.

The lockdown has since been lifted, but authorities are still investigating where the threat came from that set this scare into motion.

"We're real scared," said Stevenson University employee Tiffani Martin, who spoke to WJZ's Kimberly Eiten while hiding inside a crowded closet during the lockdown on Stevenson University's Greenspring Campus.

"[Reporter: What are they telling you, if anything?] Keep the doors locked until further notice," Martin said.

She, along with about 70 other employees were sent into panic mode just after 10:30 a.m. Monday, when a security guard picked up a threat over his radio.

It was an unclear message about a potential gunman on campus, armed with multiple AK-47s.

Professor Ted Fischer got the frantic message from his secretary, as she locked herself in their office with paper over the windows.

"If somebody knocked on my door, I'm sure as hell not going to answer it," Fischer said over the phone. "Even if they say security is there, unless you recognize the voice, I wouldn't open the door."

It was a very real scare that Baltimore County police are now investigating as a false report.

"Whenever we receive a threat, we need to establish it's credibility. but at the very beginning, we can't always do that. Safety is number one," said Stevenson University spokesman John Buettner.

Because it's summer, students were not on campus, but staff stayed in hiding for more than three hours, until police gave the all clear.

The school has protocol in place after a similar incident on its Owings Mills campus four years ago.

Follow @CBSBaltimore on Twitter and like WJZ-TV | CBS Baltimore on Facebook