Sorority Apologizes for Triggering Shooter Alert

They popped balloons during vigil for NZ victims
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 26, 2019 12:59 AM CDT
Sorority Apologizes for Triggering Shooter Alert
University of Michigan police officers respond with Washtenaw County Sheriff's deputies and the FBI, ATF, and US Border Patrol to a report of an active shooter on the University of Michigan campus near Mason Hall in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday, March 16, 2019.   (Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)

A University of Michigan sorority whose members popped balloons as part of a team-building event has apologized for triggering an "active shooter" alert on campus. The balloon popping occurred March 16, at the same time a vigil was being held nearby for victims of the New Zealand mosque attacks a day earlier. The alpha Kappa Delta Phi chapter issued an apology in a letter published Sunday in the Michigan Daily. Members said they're "truly sorry" and should've been more "more cognizant" of their actions.

Alerts issued by the Ann Arbor school told students near Mason Hall to "run, hide, fight." Authorities later said there had been "balloon popping activity" in the area and there was no "malicious intent," the AP reports. The letter says sorority members stand "in solidarity with our fellow Muslim students and marginalized communities." "We have used this past week to not only process our feelings of guilt and disbelief, but to also reflect on our mistakes and take responsibility for our actions by reaching out to members of our immediate communities," it says.

(More University of Michigan stories.)

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