Armed man arrested at Arkansas State University
JONESBORO, Ark. - Arkansas State University has lifted nearly all of a lockdown that shut down the school after an armed man drove his truck into the middle of campus.
The university says the lockdown has been lifted for all parts of the campus except for the east side of the student union. The school says the suspect is in police custody.
Jonesboro Police spokesman Paul Holmes says bomb squad technicians are en route to examine the truck.
The incident happened Thursday as students were taking final exams. Arkansas State says tests that were scheduled for Thursday night will be administered next week. Campus is closed for the rest of the day.
The university tweeted around 1:30 p.m. there were reports of an active shooter in the area of the student union. The school later said police had surrounded someone with a weapon, and no shots had been fired.
The man was taken into custody just before 3 p.m.
A university spokesperson said the incident began when the armed person drove onto the campus and crashed his vehicle into a barrier. A Twitter user in the area posted a picture of the scene on social media showing the man in his truck, which had an American flag and another flag on it.
ASU SHOOTER!!! pic.twitter.com/xZ6H53jN2e
— K (@ErrbdyHatesKris) December 10, 2015
ASU advised people in the area to evacuate to the west side of the union and clear the area. The campus went into lockdown, and officials told people to lock the doors of their buildings and stay inside.
#astate #stuckinjonesboro #gunmanoncampus #kark @KARK4News pic.twitter.com/BOIBUQJU6g
— Drew Higginbotham (@DrewMorgan10) December 10, 2015Trending News
ASU is the state's second-largest university with an annual enrollment of around 14,000 students. It is located in Jonesboro, which is an hour northwest of Memphis.