Active shooter hoaxes rattle students at 3 Georgia universities in 1 night

3 Georgia colleges hit by swatting calls in 1 night

The University of Georgia, University of West Georgia and Clark Atlanta University all received active shooter threats on Friday night. Police said all three calls turned out to be swatting calls. Students said they were unnerved by the situations so early in the school year.

GEORGIA - Students at three different Georgia universities were alerted Friday night to possible active shooters on campus. All three of those reports ended up being hoaxes, according to police. Now, students are feeling unnerved by the situations.

What we know:

At Clark Atlanta University, students received an emergency alert just before 9 p.m. after reports of a shooter near the Robert W. Woodruff Library. Atlanta police responded and issued a shelter-in-place order while officers searched the area.

Atlanta police said the callers even used gunshots in the background of a call.

The order was lifted around 11:15 p.m. after investigators confirmed there was no threat. Authorities called the incident a swatting call—when a false report is made to draw a large law enforcement response.

Students said the situation was frightening, especially so early in the school year.

What they're saying:

"I was very startled. It scared me," said Ayanna Jenkins, who also attends Clark Atlanta University. "The fake accusations and the fake phone calls it's not good, it's immature, it's nasty, it shows their character, whoever did it."

"This is a private university, but it's a public world, and it's a scary world, and it's a scary world at that," said Miracle Harrison who goes to Clark Atlanta University.

Dig deeper:

Similar calls were made at the University of Georgia in Athens and the University of West Georgia in Carrollton. Both incidents also centered on reports of an armed man near campus libraries. In each case, police determined the threats were false.

"I think that's not really something to joke about with all sorts of situations that's been happening over the past like 20 years in the United States," said Sofia Springel, who attends the University of Georgia.

What's next:

The FBI Atlanta Field Office said earlier this week it is investigating a series of hoax active shooter calls targeting schools nationwide. The agency said the threats drain law enforcement resources, cost thousands of dollars and put lives at risk.