Office and cellular phones were set off across town Thursday with a warning from Florida State University's emergency alert system. But university officials say the warning was a "false alarm" caused by a glitch in the system.
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The first message sent was an "all clear" followed shortly by warnings of a "dangerous or life threatening situation exists on Florida State University Campus. Seek shelter now in a room or building. Stay away from doors and windows. Remain sheltered until an “all Clear” has been issued."
Later, FSU rescinded the alert, and sent out a statement stating there was no threat to campaus safety and apologizing for confusion created by the false alarm.
"This appears to be a technical issue with the FSU Alert system. No emergency exists on campus and FSU is taking immediate steps to rectify the error, to ensure complete confidence in the FSU Alert System. Again, no emergency exists on campus at this time,"
But some students and their parents are unimpressed.
"Confusion? You left all students on campus in a panic with parents calling us to make sure we were alive. Maybe the alerts should not be so vague to prevent further 'confusion'," wrote Tanner Urban on the FSU Alert's facebook page. "Adding details like where on campus an event or issue is going down may help."