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False active shooter message forces shutdown of South Coast college campus

Ventura College
Automated computer message of active shooter on campus shut down Ventura College Tuesday night.

Automated computer message blamed for incident at Ventura College.

It was a scary message which shut down a South Coast college campus, but the whole thing turned out to be a false call. A computer system sent out an automatic message on the Ventura College network that there was an active shooter on campus.

People were initially told to shelter in place, and then the campus was evacuated just after 6 p.m. Tuesday. But, campus and Ventura Police quickly determined there were no victims, no witnesses, and no shots fired. All evening classes were cancelled.

Officials say they are trying to figure out what trigged the automated alert on the computer system.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.