Anatomy of False Alarm

After reading a friend's post on Facebook that the Sam Houston State campus was on lockdown (and that there were shots fired and there were three gunmen), I checked the Huntsville Item newspaper's website:

3:00 - Item investigating reports of shots fired at SHSU; campus on lockdown; officers massed around Avenue I.

3:40 - All clear at SHSU. More info to come.

4:00 - Police say SHSU reports due to Nerf game on campus.

It's a sad, sad day when an entire campus goes on lockdown because of a game of Nerf ball. For one, Nerf guns look nothing like real guns. And did whoever reported that there was a gun on campus not see the bright orange missiles or balls sticking off the front? It's not as is if they were running around with pellet guns that might actually be mistaken for, you know... real guns. What's next? Will the town of Huntsville be put on high alert the next time some kids decide to run around with Super-Soakers?

What a sad commentary on the freak-out society we live in. Still, so glad that no one was seriously hurt by a stray Nerf ball.