MUNCIE, Ind. – A student participating in the live-action role play game of "Humans vs. Zombies" on Ball State University's campus was the cause of a gun scare and campus lockdown on Tuesday.
University police issued the "shelter in place" around 2:20 p.m. after receiving multiple reports of a man wearing "all black with a green bandana and carrying a long rifle" near Bracken Library and Woodworth residence hall.
A male suspect wearing all black with a green bandanna sighted carrying a long rifle near Bracken and Woodworth. Continue to shelter in place
— Ball State Alert (@ballstate_alert) March 22, 2017
Police sent out an "all clear" message within 20 minutes of the initial alert.
“We work with the campus community to speak up if they see something. They did in this instance, and that was exactly the correct thing to do,” said James Duckham, Ball State’s director of public safety. “We quickly responded to various witness reports and were able to bring this incident to a safe ending."
The university sent a press release Wednesday afternoon saying that the student involved was playing a game of "Humans vs. Zombies" and there was no threat to anyone on campus.
"Humans vs. Zombies" is a game of tag that is played at campuses around the world, according to the game's website.
All players begin the game as "humans" except one "zombie." The "zombie" then tags other "humans" to turn them into zombies. Players use a variety of "weapons" to fight off the "zombies" and dart or Nerf guns are one of the most common choices of weapon for players.
To learn more about the game visit the Human vs. Zombies website.
After the incident, Alan Hargrave, associate vice president for student affairs and enrollment services and director of housing and residence life, urged people participating in live-action games to exercise discretion about any items that may be perceived as a weapon and be aware that such games could cause alarm.
Timeline of events from Ball State Police:
- The university sent out its first alert via various channels (text, email, voice mail, social media, websites and digital signage) at 2:09 p.m., instructing campus to shelter in place due to the possibility of a person with a gun.
- Because of the young man’s gaming equipment (body armor and toy guy), multiple calls were made to campus police reporting the sighting.
- At 2:24 p.m., the alert was updated to include a description of the possible suspect.
- Ball State police determined that the situation was a young man involved in a game of Humans vs. Zombies, and there was no threat to anyone on campus.
- At 2:29 p.m., the all clear was issued.
