Student reports armed man at Southern New Hampshire University

HOOKSETT N.H.

Students and parents on Monday questioned why Southern New Hampshire University did not go into lockdown Sunday night when a student reported seeing a man with a gun on campus.

University officials said that the student came face to face with an armed man outside Conway Residence Hall.

“He was described as a hunter dressed in black with an orange hunting-type hat on with a long rifle,” Jim Winn, SNHU director of public safety, told WMUR-TV.

Winn said the student reported that the man asked him if he had seen a deer and then disappeared into some nearby woods.

The student contacted a resident assistant, who alerted university authorities. The school called police.

Police searched the woods and four dormitories. They also blocked off part of a street heading toward the dormitories.

Parents and students asked why the campus was not placed in lockdown, but the school that degree of action was not necessary.

“There was no overt threat made to the student,” Winn said. “No one ever entered a dorm.”

The university is in the process of setting up a university-wide alert system to keep students informed during emergencies.

Information from: WMUR-TV, https://www.wmur.com/

–Associated Press

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