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Multiple police agencies in Oneida County were called shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday, April 16, with reports of an active shooter threat against Hamilton College, located in the town of Clinton.
In a post on Twitter, the college said there was “the threat of an armed assailant” in the Kirner Johnson building. Students and faculty were told to stay locked inside their rooms and away from windows while police searched the campus.
For the next three hours, school officials sent out periodic updates informing students and faculty that police were still clearing buildings and that there was no indication of an actual shooter, but they should continue to shelter in place.
In one tweet, officials said the social media post threatened to “shoot up” the Kirner Johnson building, a 51,000-square-feet facility that houses the school’s history, sociology, political science, and economics rooms.
Finally, at 9:26 p.m, the school tweeted that police had “secured” the Kirner Johnson building, along with the rest of the campus, and the shelter-in-place order was lifted.
“Troopers along with members from Hamilton College Security, Kirkland Police Department, Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI conducted a thorough search of several campus buildings and determined there was no active threat to students or staff,” New York State Police said in a statement.
Investigators eventually determined that a student at the college, 20-year-old Peter Howard, of Louisville, Kentucky, had made the threat via an online post on the app “Jodel,” according to police.
Howard was arrested without incident on a single charge of making a threat of mass harm, a misdemeanor. He was issued an appearance ticket and is scheduled to be arraigned in the Town of Kirkland court on Tuesday, May 2.
The incident came just days after another Louisville, Kentucky man shot and killed five people and injured eight others in a mass shooting at the Old National Bank in Louisville.
In a statement addressing the threat, college administrators thanked the first responders who helped clear the scene.
“Our first priority is the safety of our campus community, and you all helped ensure that,” school officials said. “We are grateful to everyone on campus for taking this threat seriously, following our safety protocols, and continuing to support each other.”
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