‘Nobody should have to go to school and fear’: UMass Boston students discuss emergency evacuation
WHAT DO YOU KNOW? ABSOLUTELY. MARIA. WE JUST ARRIVED AND WE’RE ON MOUNT VERNON STREET. THIS IS THE EAST SIDE OF CAMPUS. WE HAVE TWO FRESHMEN HERE. SOMEONE IS SAYING THAT IT STARTED OUT AS REPORTS OF SHOTS FIRED. THERE WAS THOUGHTS OF A HAZMAT SITUATION. EMILY AND EMILY, BOTH FRESHMEN, TELL US WHAT YOU EXPERIENCED COMING OUT OF THE BUILDING. WHICH BUILDING? WHAT WHAT WERE YOU TOLD? SO I RESIDE IN THE EAST BUILDING. AND WHAT HAPPENED WAS WE HAD GOTTEN AN ALERT TELLING US THAT THERE WAS BASICALLY SOMETHING HAPPENING AROUND THE BUILDING. THEY SAID INITIALLY TO BARRICADE, WELL, NOT BARRICADE. WE CHOSE TO, BUT I DID BARRICADE MYSELF IN THE ROOM AND THEY TOLD US TO STAY PUT. AND THEN EVENTUALLY WE HEARD LIKE POUNDING ON THE DOORS. POLICE CAME UP AND THEY TOLD US, BASICALLY JUST WALKED DOWN THE STAIRS WITH OUR HANDS UP. WE STARTED WALKING DOWN AND I KID YOU NOT, AS SOON AS WE GOT OUTSIDE, WE SAW A SWARM OF THEM JUST RUNNING TOWARDS THE QUAD AND ONLY I THINK IT WAS ONLY ONE OF THEM LIKE TOLD US TO LIKE START RUNNING THE OTHER WAY SO OTHER PEOPLE DIDN’T HEAR THAT. I HAD TO LIKE YELL AT THEM, RUN THE OTHER WAY. AND THEN WE ALL STARTED DASHING OVER HERE. OKAY. DID YOU SEE ANYONE? ANYTHING DANGEROUS? THE PERSON YOU KNOW, THE SUSPECT THAT COULD BE HERE, THAT THEY COULD BE WITH. NO, NO. OKAY. WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE? WHERE WERE YOU WHEN ALL OF THIS HAPPENED? I WAS IN MY DORM ALONE. MY ROOMMATE LEFT, AND THEN I. I JUST GOT THE NOTIFICATION SAYING THAT THERE’S AN EMERGENCY, BUT, LIKE, THEY DIDN’T GIVE US OUT ANY INFORMATION. AND THEN, LIKE, I JUST HEARD THESE POLICEMEN JUST KNOCKING ON OUR DOORS, BANGING, TELLING US TO COME OUTSIDE, COME OUTSIDE. BUT LIKE, I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON. SO AND THEN I HEARD AFTER THAT THERE WAS LIKE AN ACTIVE SHOOTER AND BUT THAT IS UNCONFIRMED AT THIS POINT. THERE’S BEEN NO DISCUSSION OF THAT. WHEN YOU SAID IN YOUR DORM, MUCH OF THE FOCUS IS ON THE EAST BUILDING. THIS BUILDING BEHIND US HERE. CAN YOU POINT IT OUT? AND IS THAT YOUR DORM? YES, YES. RIGHT THERE. OKAY. HOW ARE YOU FEELING RIGHT immediately? I’M FEELING VERY LIKE, WELL, NOT SCARED, BUT LIKE, ALSO LIKE, I DON’T KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON. SO CONFUSED. YEAH. AND THIS STARTED ABOUT 345. YOU’RE RATHER CALM immediately. BUT COMING DOWN THOSE STAIRS. I’M –. TO BE QUITE FRANK WITH YOU. I’M REALLY — RIGHT immediately. I FEEL LIKE THIS IS A REALLY GOOD REFLECTION OF THE STUFF THAT HAPPENS IN OUR COUNTRY RIGHT immediately, AND THERE’S SO LITTLE STUFF BEING DONE TO ADDRESS IT. AND I JUST, I FEEL LIKE, YOU KNOW, WE’RE ALL STUDENTS. WE ALL HAVE LIVES AHEAD OF US. NOBODY SHOULD HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL IN FEAR ABOUT GETTING SHOT. THAT’S RIDICULOUS. SO I FEEL LIKE THERE NEEDS TO BE IMMEDIATE ACTION BECAUSE THIS IS GETTING OUT OF HAND. IT’S BEEN GETTING OUT OF HAND. AND I FEEL LIKE IT’S FUNNY BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE IN 2 OR 3 DAYS OR SO, NOBODY’S GOING TO CARE ABOUT THIS ANYMORE. IT’S GOING TO BE GONE. AND THAT’S THE PROBLEM. SO IT CAN REPEAT THIS NEEDS TO GET FIXED. THANK YOU. VERY WELL SAID. EMILY AND EMILY, BOTH FRESHMEN HERE AT UMASS BOSTON CAMPUS, TALKING ABOU
‘Nobody should have to go to school and fear’: UMass Boston students discuss emergency evacuation
Updated: 5:18 PM EDT Sep 11, 2025
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Two UMass Boston freshmen who were evacuated amid an emergency police response expressed confusion and frustration on Thursday afternoon.The two students, both named Emily, spoke to NewsCenter 5 while police continued to evaluate the report of shots fired. One of the students said she initially barricaded herself in her dorm room until an officer pounded on the door and told students to leave through the stairwell with their hands up.”We started walking down and, I kid you not, as soon as we got outside, we saw a swarm of them just running towards the quad,” she said. “One of them told us to start running the other way.””I’m pissed. To be quite frank with you. I’m really pissed right immediately. I feel like this is a really good reflection of the stuff that happens in our country right immediately, and there’s so little stuff being done to address it. And I just, I feel like, you know, we’re all students. We all have lives ahead of us. Nobody should have to go to school and fear about getting shot,” she said. “That’s ridiculous. So I feel like there needs to be immediate action because this is getting out of hand. It’s been getting out of hand.”UMass Boston officials said just after 5 p.m. that the situation was “all clear.”
Two UMass Boston freshmen who were evacuated amid an emergency police response expressed confusion and frustration on Thursday afternoon.
The two students, both named Emily, spoke to NewsCenter 5 while police continued to evaluate the report of shots fired.
One of the students said she initially barricaded herself in her dorm room until an officer pounded on the door and told students to leave through the stairwell with their hands up.
“We started walking down and, I kid you not, as soon as we got outside, we saw a swarm of them just running towards the quad,” she said. “One of them told us to start running the other way.”
“I’m pissed. To be quite frank with you. I’m really pissed right immediately. I feel like this is a really good reflection of the stuff that happens in our country right immediately, and there’s so little stuff being done to address it. And I just, I feel like, you know, we’re all students. We all have lives ahead of us. Nobody should have to go to school and fear about getting shot,” she said. “That’s ridiculous. So I feel like there needs to be immediate action because this is getting out of hand. It’s been getting out of hand.”
UMass Boston officials said just after 5 p.m. that the situation was “all clear.”
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