UPDATE: SMC Incident Was False Alarm

A possible shooting reported at on Tuesday morning turned out to be a false alarm, a lieutenant confirmed to Santa Monica Patch at 12:30 p.m.

"It might have been something that sounded like a gunshot," the lieutenant said.

The campus is no longer on lockdown, as it had been for a couple of hours Tuesday morning.

The lockdown was called off at 12:15 p.m., according to a representative for the college.

Around 11 a.m., the department received information that alerted officers a shooting had possibly occurred.

"The SMC Police Department received a call at approximately 11:03 a.m. from the Riverside Sheriff’s Department, which reportedly received a call from the mother of an SMC student saying her daughter had apparently heard shots on campus," the college said in a statement.

"A call was also received from the Santa Monica Police Department [which had received a call from Riverside Sheriff’s] and a third call, from an unknown person, was also received."

Police combed the campus as they investigated the possible incident. Multiple helicopters hovered over the area. The Los Angeles Police Department Air Support, and emergency rescue teams also participated in the sweep.

"After a thorough search, it was determined there was no armed person on campus and the lockdown was lifted," the SMC statement continued.

Students and area residents congregated on streets surrounding the campus. Pico Boulevard and Pearl Street were closed between 20th and 14th streets.

"The college currently has no classes in session, but there are employees and some students on campus registering for classes, buying books or conducting other business," the college said in a statement.

Police are still investigating what happened.

This article was updated at 1:04 p.m.

Correction: SMC said in a subsequent statement that the initial call came in at 11:03 a.m., not 10:15 a.m.