Police responded to an active shooter situation at Villanova University on Thursday afternoon, as new students were moving into their dorms at the private Catholic research university west of Philadelphia.
At around 4:30 p.m. ET, an alert went out from Villanova instructing everyone to shelter in place and stay away from the Law School’s Scarpa Hall. A video posted on X showed a representative for Villanova telling a group of people who had taken shelter that the active shooter situation was “supposedly in the library at the law school.”
The campus was placed on lockdown over the incident just hours after Villanova Law posted that it hosted a “successful” orientation for students that was followed by a picnic. The school year is set to begin next week.
The Radnor Police Department said in its first update just before 6:00 p.m. that the incident “remains ACTIVE,” adding, “At this time, there are NO reported victims.”
????BREAKING: An active shooter alert has been reported at Villanova University
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) August 21, 2025
shooting at villanova university, we are hiding and locked down in a utility closet…. an HR rep just came to clarify the situation pic.twitter.com/Ukw42WEHg3
— Liam Zieg (@liamzieg) August 21, 2025
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