At approximately 7:45 p.m. on Jan. 21, Harford County law enforcement received a call threatening violence at Harford Community College (HCC).

According to the official summary of events sent out to HCC employees, “the Harford County Sheriff’s Office notified the College Public Safety Office of a threat made to campus. Harford County Sheriff’s Office dispatched deputies to [the] campus to assess the situation, and HCC Public Safety implemented established emergency response protocols. After the Sheriff’s Office assessed the situation, they determined to lockdown and subsequently evacuate the campus.”

Everyone on campus was ordered to shelter in place by law enforcement, and according to the sheriff’s office the college was responsible for contacting students. In a Facebook post made by the sheriff’s office there were no reports of shots fired during the evacuation process and everyone was evacuated safely by midnight.

The Sheriff’s office tweeted for students to stay in place and wait for assistance from law enforcement. They cleared out the students with assistance from the Maryland State police and Harford Community College Department of Public Safety, according the the Baltimore Sun.

The Sheriff’s office sent out another tweet late Tuesday night around 9:30 p.m. stating that HCC was under lockdown and students could be picked up at the Campus Hills Shopping Center. It received over a 100 retweets in under 24 hours.

The threat originated from the Joppa Hall, so students were ordered to evacuate to the Campus Hills Shopping Center, according to the Sheriff’s office post.

At the time of the incident, there were only 100-125 students present on campus reported by the Baltimore Sun. At this time, the JC swim team was practicing at the Arena Club next to HCC’s campus.

“There were cop cars patrolling the area all around HCC, and a helicopter was searching the grounds of the school. Almost all of the school lights were on and no cars were allowed in or out of the campus from what I saw. The amount of cop cars was insane. Almost an entire church parking lot was full of them,” junior swim team member Faith Ensor said.

“It’s scary to know something happened so close,” manager of the Dunkin’ Donuts, across the street from HCC, Ghanshyam Patel said. “Customers were asking what I knew all day, but it seems like there aren’t many answers.”

Kishan Patel is a Sports Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

Claire Grunewald is a Lifestyles Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.