Campus Alert Archive
FTCC

Renovation Tools That Sounded Like Gunfire Triggered a Code Red at FTCC Spring Lake

NCotheremergency notificationmedium confidence

On Monday, October 13, 2025, Fayetteville Technical Community College's Spring Lake campus went into a "code red" lockdown after a 911 call reported an active shooter at 171 Laketree Blvd. No shooter was ever found; an investigation determined the sounds were contractors using air and impact tools during a campus renovation that echoed like gunfire through the building's glass and hallways.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
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Institution
Fayetteville Technical Community College
Community College · NC
FTCC Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTPush
Approximate reconstruction188 chars
FTCC ALERT - CODE RED: Possible active shooter reported at the Spring Lake Campus. LOCKDOWN NOW. Lock doors, hide, stay silent, and away from windows. Do not leave until cleared by police.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

WCNC and CityView reported the lockdown was enacted around 9:50 a.m. EDT on October 13, 2025 after a 911 call at 9:55 a.m. about an active shooter at 171 Laketree Blvd. in Spring Lake; the exact alert text was not published, so this is reconstructed.
FTCC labeled the event a 'code red,' the term used in its emergency protocol for an active-threat lockdown.
ALL CLEARPush+1h 15m
Approximate reconstruction172 chars
FTCC ALERT: ALL CLEAR at the Spring Lake Campus. Police found no shooter and no shots were fired. The lockdown is lifted. The campus is closed for the remainder of the day.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The lockdown was lifted just after 11 a.m. EDT on October 13, 2025; by noon there were no confirmed reports that shots were fired or that any shooter was on campus.
FTCC President Mark Sorrells confirmed the incident was a false alarm; an after-incident investigation tied the gunfire-like sounds to contractor air and impact tools used in an on-campus renovation.
Context

Background

Fayetteville Technical Community College operates a Spring Lake campus at 171 Laketree Blvd. in Cumberland County, North Carolina. On the morning of Monday, October 13, 2025, a 911 call reporting an active shooter sent the campus into a code red lockdown around 9:50 a.m. EDT. Spring Lake police and campus security cleared the buildings and lifted the lockdown just after 11 a.m., finding no shooter. A subsequent investigation determined contractors were using air and impact tools during a renovation, and the noise echoing through glass and hallways was mistaken for gunfire — a recurring cause of false active-shooter alarms on campuses. FTCC President Mark Sorrells confirmed the false alarm, and the campus closed for the rest of the day.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Fayetteville Tech contractors used tools that sounded like gunfire, college says - WRAL
    wral.com
  2. News
    Report of active shooter puts Fayetteville Tech campus in Spring Lake on lockdown - CBS17
    cbs17.com
  3. News
    Lockdown lifted at FTCC's Spring Lake campus after reported shooter - WCNC
    wcnc.com
  4. News
    False report of active shooter causes lockdown at FTCC Spring Lake campus - CityView
    cityviewnc.com
Tags
false-alarmactive-shooter-scarenorth-carolinacommunity-collegelockdownspring-lakecode-red
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion