The lockdown at the University of Texas at Austin is over, but many students are still shaken by an incident involving a student with an AK-47.

Early on Sept. 28, UT students were sent a text message from the University Emergency Number stating: “armed subject reported last seen at PERRY CASTANEDA LIBRARY SHELTER STAY WHERE YOU ARE AT.”

After hours of confusion, students discovered that Colton Tooley, a 19-year-old Math major, opened fire on campus and then shot and killed himself in the Perry-Castañeda Library (PCL). No other students were injured.

Junior Rebecca Tomlin, a UT student, said she was not on campus, but the message she received shortly after waking up scared her.

“I…immediately thought about what happened at Virginia Tech a few years ago,” Tomlin said. “I was glued to the TV, watching the news that was coming in about the whole situation.”

Kierstin Thornhill, one of Tomlin’s roommates, was on campus and said that when the first person told her the campus was on lockdown, she didn’t know if she should believe them, so she continued walking. Then she met up with some softball players, and they heard the sirens.

“We all thought it was the weather alarm,” Thornhill said. “Then the voice recording came on and one of the softball girls’ coach called her. She said shots were fired campus; he was last seen at the PCL. Those words freaked us out to the point of running, not knowing anything. We assumed a gunman was somewhere, anywhere on campus.”

Thornhill and her friends ran to the San Jacinto dorms, knowing they could stay in teammates’ rooms. As they were running they saw police officers questioning people outside of the library.

“Everything was eerily quiet and all the people being interviewed were sitting on those tables right outside with the blankest stares on their face[s],” Thornhill said. “They caught our attention, but we kept running.”

Once in a teammate’s dorm, Thornhill turned to the news. The university, however, intercepted all of the channels on the internal television sysytem to control what information was being distributed during the crisis, according to UT Vice President of Public Affairs Don Hale.

“It is our job to communicate with the students, faculty and staff,” Hale said. “That internal television is an important channel of communciation.”

Without cable news, Thornhill and her friends turned to what was posted on Facebook and sent in text messages.

“Suddenly we had no news. Then we were really lost. We had to rely on these crazy rumors as real news,” Thornhill said.

After a few hours, Thornill and her roommate decided it was safe to go home. While they were on their way to their cars, the alarm sounded again, warning students to stay indoors. Again, Thornhill ran, wanting to get off of campus.

When they met up with Tomlin in their off-campus house, they turned to the news.

“We had so many questions and just wanted them to start giving answers,” Thornhill said.

Students on the St. Edward’s University campus shared concern for their friends at UT.

“I was pretty shocked to hear that there was a shooting on campus. I called all the people I knew there immediately,” junior Zane Jungman said.

Freshman Meagan Solis was worried when she got the news, but was relieved that there was only one casualty.

“You just have to be thankful that the people who you love are safe in these situations. It’s really scary that something like this could happen,” Solis said.

Tomlin said it was reassuring how well the UT Police Department and Austin Police Department responded to the situation.

“Emergency sirens were sounded and emergency text messages were sent out within minutes of the first gunshots,” Tomlin said.

A SWAT team was brought on to campus to search for possible bombs, and police were searching the campus for a possible second suspect.

Thornhill agrees that the security was extensive. She said she feels safe on campus.

“The amount of police and SWAT that we saw on campus made us ultimately feel safer returning to campus, knowing they investigated every possible situation and they are there to keep us safe,” Thornhill said.    

It was determined that there were no further threats, and the lockdown was released. However, UT President Bill Powers canceled all classes for the day.

Tomlin, although worried throughout the day, was relieved about the outcome.

“I’m very thankful that this incident wasn’t worse than it could have been. We are truly blessed to be this safe,” Tomlin said.

Additional reporting byAndrew Weber