An armed man has shut down wide swaths of Princeton, New Jersey, according to multiple reports late Tuesday morning.
At least two Princeton University buildings have been evacuated after reports of an armed man being surrounded by police inside a Panera Bread near the campus. Princeton has since issued a statement. It reads, in full:
Police have shut down buildings near the restaurant on the north side Nassau Street, which is closed for several blocks.
As a precaution, the two campus buildings closest to the restaurant — Henry House and Scheide Caldwell House — were evacuated.
It is not known whether the gunman has any connection to the University.
Classes are not in session, as this is the week of spring break.
Twitter users appeared to be the first to note and publicize the incident.
Eric Barreto posted the following update at 8:56 a.m. Tuesday:
A half mile down the street from our home, an armed man is threatening lives and shutting down the town. The schools and public library are on lockdown as a precaution. What continued cost will we be asked to pay in our heretical adoration of weapons? #PrincetonNJgunman
— Eric Barreto (@ericbarreto) March 20, 2018
User “Joshua E” noted that a local record store had been evacuated:
We are being gently advised to evacuate Princeton Record Exchange. This is very real, folks. Be safe #PrincetonNJgunman
— Joshua E (@modcon02) March 20, 2018
Another Twitter user posted a video which appears to show the perspective from inside of one of the closed university buildings:
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VIDEO:Police have surrounded an armed man inside a building across from Princeton University campus. https://t.co/2iKr7x2hwd pic.twitter.com/VjVmQohvnn
— News This Second (@NewsThisSecond) March 20, 2018
This is a breaking story. Law&Crime will update this post as more information becomes available.
[image via screengrab]
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