Was there an active shooter? Was Quintin Tyrell Stewart on Morgan State University’s campus? Was he arrested?

These are some of the questions and rumors that quickly circulated around Morgan’s campus after Stewart left a verbal threat to “shoot up” the Office of Human Resources on Tuesday. 

Before the Office of Public Relations and Strategic Communications confirmed Stewart was never on campus, there were a lot of unknowns as to what was happening at Morgan, and whether it was safe or not to move around campus. 

Screenshots of a Canvas notification from Timothy Meeker, a professor in the biology department, quickly circulated through text messages and group chats with Morgan students. In the message, Meeker said the suspect had been apprehended. 

“We have also been informed by the police that the suspect has been apprehended. I verified normal activity in the quad outside the science complex at 3:56 p.m,” Meeker wrote in an email to his SCIE200 course.

This contradicts what Larry Jones, assistant vice president of public relations and strategic communications, later confirmed to the Spokesman.

Meeker received his information from Lisa Brown, interim chairperson of the biology department. 

At 4 p.m., Brown sent an email stating that Marshell Jenkins, the laboratory manager in the biology department, spoke with the Morgan State University Police Department (MSUPD) and claims they confirmed that the suspect had been apprehended.

“Marshell Jenkins called the Police Department and confirmed that the suspect has been apprehended. The building is now safe to carry on usual activities,” Brown wrote in an email to faculty members within the biology department. 

Jenkins called MSUPD back after a coworker shared they had spoken with Dwayne Chambers, MSUPD deputy chief, and was told the opposite. 

“When I called back it was confirmed that the suspect had not been apprehended, but was cooperating with the authorities, so it was safe to resume normal activity on campus. My department then made an executive decision to safely dismiss students and cancel classes for the remainder of the evening,” Jenkins wrote in an email to the Spokesman. 

More screenshots began circulating of students saying someone was spotted with a gun and shots were fired on campus. 

What we know

Stewart was not on Morgan’s campus on Tuesday, the day the threat was made. MSUPD has Stewart’s cell phone number and was in communication with him throughout the day, according to Jones. 

Jones said MSUPD did receive a phone call from someone indicating that Stewart was potentially spotted in the Earl S. Richardson Library. However, it was unsubstantiated as MSUPD was on the phone with him at the time. 

An increased patrol of the main campus, including the library, was also active at the time the report was made. 

Jones said that any information provided by the University is accurate and truthful based on the details they had at that time. 

“If there had been an immediate danger for the campus community, the University would have indicated so. An emergency situation response would have been activated and a shelter-in-place order would have been enacted,” Jones wrote in an email to the Spokesman.

Jones confirmed that none of those measures were taken because there was no shooting, no shots fired, no active shooter, no campus lockdown, and no chasing of a suspect on campus. 

MSUPD secured an arrest warrant for Stewart after the threat on Tuesday. Baltimore Police Department and the Warrant Task Force are currently working to apprehend the suspect, according to Jones. 

The Spokesman reached out to MSUPD chief Lance Hatcher, but he directed the publication to the Office of Public Relations and Strategic Communication.

University President David Wilson has yet to release a statement on the matter.