WFAA-TV

Atmos Energy workers sealed off the gas leak on the SMU campus.

UNIVERSITY PARK — Students, faculty and staff at SMU were advised to remain inside Thursday morning after what was described as a large natural gas leak on the southeast side of the 210-acre campus.

The shelter-in-place order was given shortly before 10 a.m. as Atmos Energy workers were dispatched to the source of the leak near Binkley garage at Binkley Avenue and Airline Road.

SMU said there were some evacuations in the area around a pedestrian plaza being built along Moody Coliseum.

Steve Mace, a spokesman for the City of University Park, said the accidental rupture was caused by construction work.

As a precaution, the campus blocked off a one-mile radius surrounding the leak, Mace said, adding that there was concern for young people at tennis and soccer camps on campus.

Video

Craig Civale reports.

>More WFAA Latest News video

• View larger
• E-mail clip
• More video

Related links:

• SMU
• More top stories

Search Video:

The leak was capped around 11 a.m.

The initial announcement, delivered via text message, caused some confusion because it failed to specify the threat. It read:

"SMU Emergency Alert. There is an emergency on campus. Please shelter in the nearest building now. Do not go outside. Will update."

School officials said they dispatched the alert before they knew exactly what was going on, and the generic message caused confusion.

"I think everyone thought that maybe there was a shooting or something," said SMU student Lindsay Perper. "That was just a rumor, and obviously, it wasn't true."

There was no reference to the message on the home page of SMU's Web site immediately after the alert, although it was posted a few minutes later. A more detailed message about the emergency wasn't transmitted until 17 minutes after the original alert.

"In the interest of speed and safety, one gets out a general message that just says 'shelter in place,'" explained SMU spokeswoman Patti LaSalle. "Then we're able to provide more specifics as we know it."

WFAA-TV

Students and others on campus first received this generic message on cell phones and via e-mail.

Russ Aaron was working with other students on a project when they received the alert. Aaron said he and others turned the lights off to the classroom and huddled in a corner, thinking there had been a campus shooting.

"I am still kind of shaken up a little bit," he said after learning that the alarm was for a gas leak.

No injuries were reported.

The Dallas Morning News contributed to this report.

E-mail ccivale@wfaa.com