DENVER (KDVR) Police at the University of Colorado Boulder on Monday responded to what is now being investigated as a “potential swatting incident at Norlin Library.” Police said there had been reports of shots fired at the library.

Swatting refers to a prank call or message to an official emergency service in an attempt to bring a large number of armed officers to a specific area, which can be dangerous to civilians.

At about 8:20 p.m., the university sent an email about the incident to the campus community, stating that the campus was “the latest in a string of hoaxes directed at campuses around the country with false active-harmer reports.”

“The CU Boulder Police Department has determined there was and is no threat to campus,” the college said in the release. The agency said that it had received a report from someone claiming to be at Sewall Hall who had heard gunshots in the direction of Norlin Library. “There were no findings of injuries or any suspect.”

The university said the campus community will see an increase in visible officers at residence halls and the Norlin Library in the upcoming days.

The CU Boulder Police Department issued a campus-wide shelter-in-place at about 4:54 p.m. and said in a second message to campus that they were evacuating Norlin Library and Sewall Hall after responding to a call near Norlin Library. The police department said Sewall Hall was “cleared.”

The campus-wide shelter in place was limited to a main campus shelter in place at about 5:16 p.m., which meant East Campus was no longer subject to the shelter in place order, and at about 5:40 p.m., the shelter-in-place order was further limited to just Norlin Library. The final shelter-in-place order was lifted at about 8:18 p.m.

There was a heavy police presence in the area of the library and the residence hall on Monday evening as police investigated the shots-fired reports and potential swatting.

The police department shared at about 5:30 p.m. that it had found no signs of injuries or a suspect.

CU Boulder police said that as of 7:30 p.m., the Buff Bus routes were impacted along Colorado and 18th Street through campus while police worked to clear the rest of Norlin Library. The agency said that riders will receive a push notification from the transit app when buses resume their normal schedules.

Additionally, the police department said that anyone who left items inside the li brary can meet officers at the east side doors of the library to be escorted inside and retrieve belongings between 8:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. Monday night.

FOX31’s Shaul Turner spoke to one student who stayed inside an adjacent building until learning it was safe to leave.

“I got to kind of put myself back into that mental space that if I’m on campus, there’s a possibility that I’m a target and that’s kind of a bizarre pill to have to swallow,” said Patrick Dawson.

Students told FOX31 that those who cause law enforcement resources to be wasted on pranks should think twice about the impact of their actions.

“I think the people that do it are just like kind of messed up,” said one student walking near the library.

The incident occurred at the beginning of the school year, disrupting the joy and excitement of those new to the campus.

“I come here to study for my future and it gets interrupted by something like this. I couldn’t go to a class today,” said one student.

The library will be closed for the night and reopen for normal business hours on Tuesday. Anyone who is unable to retrieve belongings tonight can go to the security office at room M298 on the second floor of the library during normal business hours on Tuesday.

A number of hoax mass shootings have been reported in the past few days. On Monday, the University of South Carolina Police Department said it believes an active shooter alert on Sunday was part of a swatting hoax. There were also false shooting reports at Iowa State University and Villanova University, and on Monday, law enforcement at the University of Arkansas had received multiple reports of active shooters, but had found no threat. A similar incident occurred at Kansas State University on Monday.

CU Boulder’s Norlin Library houses humanities, social sciences and life sciences collections, rare and distinctive collections, and more. The building is located in the 1700 block of Pleasant Street in Boulder.

FOX31’s Shaul Turner contributed to this report.