On Monday, Nov. 5, students and faculty received a series of McDaniel Alerts that reported an attempted armed robbery near Big Baker. The incident was reported by a campus employee, according to the alerts.
The account of robbery, however, was false. President Casey sent a follow-up email to the student body on Wednesday afternoon relaying the fabrication of the incident.
“McDaniel College administrators have been notified by the Westminster Police Department that the reported attempted armed robbery on Monday evening, Nov. 5, has been determined to be unfounded,” Casey said in the email.
The College sent its first alert shortly after 8 p.m. on Monday, notifying the campus of an attempted armed robbery and reporting that the Westminster Police Department was investigating the crime.
Following alerts advised students to avoid the Big Baker area until 9:13 p.m. when a “Campus All Clear” alert was sent. This came after an inspection of the area by Campus Safety officers and the WPD.
A 10 p.m. McDaniel Alert described the alleged crime in further detail. The campus employee reported that the attacker, described as a Hispanic male in his 20s, with a tattoo of a cross on his face, fled after approaching the employee with a knife.
The account was retracted on Wednesday.
A similar incident occurred in the spring of 2017, in which a student falsely reported an attempted armed robbery in front of Alumni Hall.
The president’s email additionally stated that the employee who reported the crime was “terminated and barred from campus.”
