LOS ANGELES — Students were warned to shelter in place at Claremont McKenna College and police worked to clear the area following reports of a possible active shooter Thursday evening.

The Claremont Police Department received a call of an active shooter on campus around 5 p.m. and was working with regional agencies to respond to the potential threat, the department said in a 6:20 p.m. statement.

The college said that a shelter in place order has been issued while police work to ensure the campus is secure in a 5:50 p.m. alert posted on its website.

The incident comes one day after a swatting call for an armed shooter prompted a massive police response and evacuations at Loma Linda Children’s Hospital in San Bernardino County. That report was unfounded and no one was injured.

All five undergraduate college campuses that are part of the Claremont consortium — Pomona College, Scripps College, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College and Pitzer College — received a campus safety alert at 4:55 p.m. notifying them of police activity at Claremont McKenna College and warning them to stay away from the area, according to reporting from campus newspaper the Student Life.

At 5:15 p.m., another alert was sent warning students to shelter in place if on campus, or stay away if off campus. This was followed by a 6:09 p.m. email from Pomona College Dean of Students Avis Hinkson canceling evening classes and urging students to shelter in place because of an active threat, the student paper reported.

Helicopter footage captured by KTLA News showed a significant police and SWAT team response on campus with many resources concentrated around Roberts Pavilion.

The news station reported that police were searching students before allowing them to return to at least one campus building.

“I was just doing some homework — I have a paper due — and I just get a text ‘potential shooter,’” a student identified as Gabe told the news station. “I look out the window, SWAT teams, cops and it said you got to get off campus, get to safety and lock the doors. We just started going away from campus.”

Claremont Mckenna College Dean of Students Jimmy Doan sent a 6:18 p.m. email with a form to track the location of students, according to reporting by student newspaper the Claremont Independent.

“We are thinking about each and every single one of you,” he wrote. “Please fill out this short form to let us know your current location. We may use this information to help us track our student community.”

Students were warned to continue sheltering in place in a 6:45 p.m. status update on CMC’s website.

©2025 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.