An updated safety alert posted by California State University San Marcos on Aug. 20 states there was no reported gunman on campus after all.
As of 9:45 a.m., the campus lockdown was cleared, according to the alert. No weapons were found when authorities contacted the suspect.
According to Twitter reports from campus, a large umbrella had been mistaken for a rifle.
(Update at 9:55 a.m.) According to a San Diego County Sheriff’s Department report, a call came in just before 9 a.m., with a witness telling deputies that a man between 30 to 40 years old with a shaved head, wearing a black shirt and jeans, was carrying what appeared to be a long gun on campus. San Marcos Sheriff’s Station deputies responded and set up a perimeter, the sheriff’s report stated. Deputies searched the campus and found the man fitting the description, and determined he was not carrying a gun, but an umbrella.