Catholic University ordered students and staff members to shelter in place early Tuesday morning after a custodial worker reported being threatened by an armed man, who had not been located as of Tuesday evening.
The custodial worker said the man approached him about 10:30 p.m. Monday on campus, in Pangborn Hall, according to a message university president John Garvey sent students Tuesday evening.
D.C. police and the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force are investigating because the suspect made claims that sounded to the custodian like terror-related threats, Garvey said.
The incident began when the armed man demanded to known the location of the administration building. The worker directed him to Leahy Hall.
The university's Department of Public Safety contacted police, who arrived in about five minutes. A suspect was stopped, but the witness said that man was not the man who had threatened him.
The university issued the shelter-in-place order at 1:15 a.m., nearly three hours after the incident, the school president said.
Neither the suspect nor any explosive devices were found, Garvey said. In consultation with police, the order was lifted about 2:50 a.m.
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The university is boosting security, Garvey said.
"Our [Department of Public Safety] officers are patrolling the campus in a heightened state of alert with support from members of MPD's Emergency Response Team," he said in the message to the community.
