Balloons popping prompts Barry University to send 'Run, hide, fight' text to students
MIAMI SHORES - New cell phone video shows police officers with their guns drawn Thursday night while searching a library at Barry University.
They were responding to a report of shots being fired but it turns out that it was a false alarm. It was actually the sound of balloons popping inside Thompson Hall just before 8 pm.
Several Students tell CBS4's Peter D'Oench that they will not forget those images.
"It was very scary," said Ashley Forbes, a senior. "At first we heard it was fake. Then we heard there was a shooter and not a shooter and it was balloons popping. We had no idea what was going on."
On Friday, Miami Shores Police, Barry University and the South Florida PBA all said police acted appropriately because of a possible threat to students on campus and that was the lesson learned from this incident.
South Florida PBA President Steadman Stahl said, "We are living in very dangerous times right now that we have to respond to these situations anytime somebody calls police about an active shooter or any domestic disturbance we are going to respond.
Police responded appropriately and luckily there was no active shooter there and everything was OK. There are bad people out there. We are going to respond swiftly and quickly and we are going to make sure that everyone is going to get out safely."
Initially, the school had sent out texts, emails and automated calls saying, "An armed assailant is on campus. Take necessary and appropriate action. Run, hide, fight. Further information to follow."
The school later tweeted, "reports of a shooter and active assailant on Barry University's campus this evening are false." The school said balloons popping from an event in Thompson Hall lead to a false alarm that was no threat to the campus.
Miami Shores and Miami-Dade Police both responded and conducted two searches and confirmed there was no threat. Students had been locked down.
On Friday, Barry University said in a statement, "Students present heard what they thought to be gunfire in their vicinity and acted appropriately and as we are trained to do by calling 911 and notifying campus public safety.
During this time law enforcement took all appropriate action by conducting an initial search and then a secondary search to ensure there was no assailant on campus and to ensure the safety of all."
Miami Shores Police in a statement said that police and Barry University had conducted an active shooter threat training in August and said, "It was determined that Barry University did exactly what they had been instructed to do during our August scenario-based training." They said Thompson Hall was locked down and students and staff were able to seek a safe and secure shelter and 911 was called along with campus security.
Some students said they were scared.
"I think they overreacted," said student Jocelyn Pinacho. "I was just balloon popping." And student Niecy Neysmith said, "I feel like they overreacted especially since it was just balloons."
Melanie Ramirez, a freshman, said "Honestly I think they did the right thing. You never know whether it was balloons or a gun going off."
Another student, Maya Campion, said "I think they did the right thing. It is good to treat every problem with the highest caution. Better that everyone is safe and gets to stay in their room even if it was nothing at the end of the day."
And another student, Matalia Lima, said, "For me, it was the right decision because it means everyone is safe right now."
Ashley Forbes, who showed D'Oench the cell phone video, added, "If it was a real situation and they said everything was fine, this could have escalated and people could have gotten hurt. Better to be on the safe said even if people were scared."
