Message from GW Safety and Security's Darrell Darnell

Last night, the university issued alerts to students, faculty and staff about a report from the United States Secret Service of a person with a handgun believed to be headed from the White House towards our Foggy Bottom campus. Three alerts were sent out by the GW Office of Safety and Security during a two hour period. With these alerts we updated our community about an evolving police situation, with the best information we had at the time and also provided a description of the suspect. A student reported a suspect matching this description at the Gelman Library. Law enforcement agencies searched the building, and no suspect was located. The George Washington University Police Department, along with the U.S. Secret Service, Metropolitan Police Department and U.S. Park Police, assisted in investigating the scene. The search was concluded shortly after 11:30 p.m.

The university issues Safety and Security alerts out of an abundance of caution to protect the safety and security of our students, faculty and staff. Last night the notification system worked as intended. Our community was aware of an evolving police situation. We received tips, and the law enforcement agencies involved worked well together to search for a suspect.

The safety of our students, faculty and staff is of paramount importance to us and we encourage the entire GW community to sign up for GW Alert.