University Mistakes Paintballer for Campus ‘Gunman’

IRVINE, Calif.

The University of California, Irvine (UCI) sent out a campus-wide text alert to students after police responded to a man wielding a gun. The ‘weapon’, however, was allegedly only a paintball gun.

The university was alerted by a student who called campus authorities after seeing a student dressed in camouflage carry what was believed to be a gun near campus.

Campus authorities notified students by sending a text message across the school’s zotALERT system, reported the OC Register. The message was sent to 20,000 students, faculty and staff members and urged people to remain locked in campus buildings.

One student was arrested and later released without charges.

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