There was a frightening episode on campus at IU Southeast this afternoon. A student reported seeing a person with a gun, which precipitated a campus emergency. I received automated telephone calls telling us to shelter in place, to close and lock doors and wait until an official all-clear. My office is at the west end of the hall in my building; it would be one of the first offices a shooter would see if he entered the building from the west entrance. I turned off my computer and hid out of sight from my office door window, and quietly waited. There were numerous police sirens, and I could hear a helicopter over campus. At one point, I heard men in the hallway, trying every door handle, including my door handle. I assumed they were police but I was not completely certain of that (they didn't say "police" or give any indication as to who they were). At that point, I was genuinely afraid. Fortunately, after about 40 minutes, an all-clear was issued and the campus returned to normal status. It turned out that a student was carrying a BB gun for use as a prop in a theater class. It's unfortunate that an innocent mistake could cause so much disruption and fear. But I'm glad this kind of threat is being taken seriously and that there is a well-developed emergency plan for this kind of incident. And I was pleased to see a bit of gentle humor afterwards on social media: Someone wanted to know if it was a Red Ryder BB gun.