Rhode Island college is evacuated and classes are suspended over a shell casing found in a hallway just one day after shooting at UNC
- Community College of Rhode Island tweeted this morning to ‘Please evacuate the Warwick Campus immediately’
- State police are now on the scene with troopers and K-9 dogs
- College tweeted the evacuation is not related to an active shooter
An evacuation was ordered and classes suspended at the Community College of Rhode Island after a shell casing was found in a hallway early this morning.
The college tweeted Wednesday to ‘Please evacuate the Warwick Campus immediately.’ The school also said to ‘remain calm’ and ‘wait for further instructions.’
Shortly before 10.30am, the college tweeted that the evacuation was not related to an active shooter.
The college evacuation in Rhode Island came less than 24 hours after two students were shot dead and four others were wounded at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte.
The Community College of Rhode Island was evacuated this morning over what it says is a ‘public safety concern’
During a press conference late Wednesday morning, the Rhode Island college’s president Meghan Hughes said that a spent shell casing was found next to the elevators on the sixth floor of the Knight Campus at 7am.
‘In light of the tragedy yesterday at UNC Charlotte, we made the decision to evacuate our campus,’ she said, referring to the deadly campus shooting that took place in North Carolina on Tuesday.
State police with troopers and firearms detection dogs searched the campus and found no additional casings or weapons.
Officials say about 7,000 students were present on campus at the time of the evacuation.
‘It’s worrying me a little bit but I think they’re handling it pretty well,’ Miguel Martinez, a freshman at CCRI, told Providence Journal.
A message will go out later today to students and staff to let them know when the campus will be reopened.
Police stand guard at the entrance to the Community College of Rhode Island’s campus in Warwick, Rhode Island, which was evacuated and where classes were suspended as a precaution Wednesday morning
Warwick Police Chief Col. Rick Rathbun said that the investigation remains open and that detectives are still trying to figure out where the casing came from.
Founded in 1964, CCRI bills itself as the largest community college in New England, with current total enrollment of nearly 18,000 students spread over four campuses.
