Balloons set off an active shooter scare at a Miami-area college. How police responded

Popping balloons at Barry University that some students thought were gunshots set off an active shooter scare that brought police and fire crews swarming to the Miami Shores campus Thursday night.

The college, which had sent out the shooter alert, later said “there is no threat to campus.”

“Reports of a shooter and active assailant on Barry University’s campus ... are false,” the university said on Twitter. “”Balloons popping from an event at Thompson Hall led to the false alarm.”

Miami Shores police said officers conducted an “initial search and then a secondary search to ensure there was no assailant and ensure the safety of all.”

Barry students had heard what turned out to be balloons popping on campus, at Northeast 113th Street and Second Avenue, and reported them as gunshots, according to police. The campus was locked down through the investigation.

Before 8 p.m. Thursday, the university sent out an alert that advised: “An armed assailant is on campus. Take necessary and appropriate action. Run, hide, fight.”