Race starter pistols will be fired during several OU Track and Field meets this weekend and next at the John Jacobs Track and Field Complex, according to an email from the university.
The pistols will be fired at the start of multiple races on Friday and Saturday during the Sooner Invitational and Multi from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., according to the email. On April 21 and 22, pistols will also be fired from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. during the John Jacobs High School Invitational and the John Jacobs College Invitational.
The John Jacobs Field Complex is located directly east of the Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The OU Police Department has been notified of the events, according to the email.
The email comes six days after OU was targeted by international swatting on April 7, causing the university to issue an alert stating an active shooter was on the South Oval near the Bizzell Memorial Library.
That night at around 9:24 p.m., OUPD received several calls reporting gunshots on campus, according to April Sandefer, OU director of media relations.
Officers were dispatched to the area, but found no evidence of a shooting. Since then, the FBI has assisted the university in investigating the incident and found it was a case of swatting, meaning false calls were made to law enforcement to trigger a large response. The FBI believes the calls were made from outside the US, though the investigation is ongoing, according to an email from OU President Joseph Harroz Jr.
