CCSU on lockdown after reports of armed man spotted on campus

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/04/central-connecticut-state-university-lockdown

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An armed man was spotted on the campus of Central Connecticut State University on Monday, prompting a university lockdown and warnings for students to stay away from windows.

The university declared a campus emergency and an hour later its website continued urging students to remain inside buildings. Photographs showed police officers sheltering behind campus walls as several agencies responded.

University spokesman Mark McLaughlin said: "Somebody was seen either with a gun or was thought to have a gun."

Jordan Governale, a 20-year-old junior from Farmington, said he walked by a man carrying a backpack and with a sword and sheath strapped to his back. The man was wearing a mask, camouflage pants, knee pads and a vest resembling body armor, Governale said.

A minute later he said he saw police responding.

"At first I thought it was a Halloween costume. But after I saw the cops I thought it was some sort of threat," he said. "It's pretty scary. It's pretty strange. Unexpected."

Governale said he did not hear gunshots.

Paul Vance, a state police spokesman, says university police asked for assistance related to a report of a suspicious person.

More than 12,000 students attend the university outside Hartford, which has a 182-acre campus.

New Britain police did not immediately respond to requests for information. Two New Britain schools near the campus were also locked down as a precaution, according to the superintendent's office.

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