Police Scour Manchester Community College Campus for Reported Gunman

Manchester Community College remained in a state of lockdown late Wednesday afternoon as state and local police, including members of the SWAT team, searched the campus after reports of a gunman. 

Police could be seen going building to building to search, and students and staff began to be escorted from inside the buildings with their hands in the air. Although, according to various social media posts, many students and staff still remain in the building while police search. 

Multiple media outlets are reporting that a local police officer was injured when a gun was accidentally discharged in the Manchester Community College Charitable Foundation building, although police have not confirmed those reports. No injuries have been reported at the scene. 

Reich Zemanek, a MCC student from South Windsor, said he was inside the college at approximately 1:45 p.m. when a report on the loudspeaker told all students and staff to remain in their classrooms. 

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"Someone reported that there was someone with a gun. We heard it over the intercom that it was a drill, but it wasn't a drill," Zemanek told Patch. "We hid in a lab room with about 35 people locked inside. I snuck out of the room to let people know that my classroom was in there…I saw the SWAT team and everything. It was pretty crazy." 

Thursday night, Laura Borhman, of Durham, waited at a nearby Starbucks on Spencer Street for her daughter, Molly Norton, who was kept in a dark classroom during the lockdown.

Borhman said that she’d been texting with Norton, of West Hartford, since around 2 p.m.; police did not release Norton’s class until 6:45 p.m. Norton had been in art class when the emergency announcement was made that the school was in “shelter-in-place” mode. Borhman said Norton’s class was moved to a neighboring room used as a kiln for pottery class ad kept there for nearly five hours.

According to information posted on the MCC website, despite the investigation, the the college will be open normal hours tomorrow, weather permitting.

Stick with Manchester Patch as we continue to update this story throughout the day.