ROSEMOUNT, Minn. - Dakota County Technical College was on lockdown Wednesday afternoon as authorities were on the scene investigating a situation.
At approximately 1:35 p.m., the campus was placed on lockdown. The college says the campus was notified via the StarAlert emergency system, which sends calls, emails and texts to all contacts on file for students and staff. The school also posted on its Facebook page, warning students to "remain where you are until there's an all clear."
At approximately 2:46 p.m., Dakota County Technical College posted the lockdown was over.
Students posted to the school saying they were unclear whether the lockdown was a drill, due to conflicting calls and emails sent out from the school, but replying messages made it clear this was not a drill and students needed to remain where they were with the lights turned off. The college's president told KARE 11 that the college tests its emergency system on Wednesdays. The test was executed and moments later, according to the president, the actual alert was issued.
Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie says the lockdown was due to a report of a man on campus with a gun in his waistband. Deputies searched the campus but did not find anyone.
A video posted on Twitter by @king22_justin shows officers walking the hallways with flashlights and guns drawn.
"Our top priority is the safety of our students, our faculty, and our staff. We are working with law enforcement and will provide updates though the media as they are available. Out of respect for the investigation, we ask that all questions about the incident be directed to law enforcement," Angela Burns of Dakota County Technical College said in a statement.
All classes for the day and evening continued as normal.
