UC Berkeley lifts lockdown over threat; classes canceled

BERKELEY — The University of California, Berkeley issued an all clear more than four hours after ordering a campus-wide lockdown Thursday, saying that the situation was resolved.

An announcement lifting the lockdown was quickly followed by the 2 p.m. all-clear order. Students forced to shelter indoors and away from doors and windows were asked to leave campus quickly. In-person classes were canceled for the day.

Police had said they were looking for a person trying to hurt specific people on campus but that there was not an active shooter on campus. Campus spokespeople did not immediately return a request for more information.

The university's police department tweeted earlier Thursday that “an emergency" had occurred and that there was police activity at the school.

Dan Mogulof, a spokesperson for UC Berkeley, said earlier Thursday those not on campus had been urged to stay away. He said he had no other information.

UC Berkeley, which is across the bay from San Francisco, has more than 60,000 students, staff and faculty.

Libraries, cafeterias, parking garages and all other campus facilities were closed until further notice, the university said in a statement.

Some neighboring schools also closed their gates.

Berkeley Unified School District said it had placed six schools on a “soft lockdown” out of an abundance of caution, because of their proximity to the college campus. A soft lockdown means that all gates and doors to a school are locked but students can move around freely inside school buildings, said Trish McDermott, spokeswoman for Berkeley Unified.

A class of second graders on a field trip to the university campus when the lockdown was issued sheltered in place, McDermott said.

“They are safe and fine and we’ve reached out to parents and caregivers,” she said.