Photo via Facebook

Photo via Facebook.

The lockdown on the campus of American University was lifted shortly before 4:40 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon after police concluded that the buildings and grounds were secure.

The precautionary measures were spurred by a report that a white male was spotted in the 3300 block of New Mexico Avenue NW with an exposed handgun. The call came in around 1 p.m., according to D.C. police spokesperson Krishaon Ewing.

D.C. police, American University police, and the Secret Service conducted a building-by-building search of the campus. They instructed people to shelter in place, lock their doors, and stay away from windows.

The focus of the investigation centered at the Main Campus, East Campus, and 3201 New Mexico Ave NW, according to AUPD.

Bender Arena was one of the buildings on lockdown. As Dick Uliano of WTOP noted, the arena is currently hosting a summer basketball camp. The Jr. Wizards Summer Basketball Camp, which sold out, is for kids ages 6 to 14 years old.

Campus shuttle services were suspended and the campus road was closed during the lockdown, per campus police. As of 4:06 p.m., the Red Express shuttle route began running again.

WAMU’s headquarters, which also houses DCist, was initially among the affected sites. The building was on lockdown as a precaution, though as of 2:45 p.m., entry and exit with the escort of the building’s public safety officer are permitted. Before the “all clear” was given campus-wide, the lockdown had been lifted at the Spring Valley Building at 4801 Massachusetts Avenue NW as of 3:22 p.m., 4200 Wisconsin at 3:32 p.m., and the . Washington College of Law campus as of 3:57 p.m.

There was a technical issue with AU’s alert system that delayed some of the initial email alerts about the lockdown. While the university said that those issues were resolved by 2:20 p.m., some students and employees said they were still not receiving alerts after that.

This post has been updated.

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