Active shooter reported at Villanova University campus near Philadelphia

VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) - Police responded Thursday to a report of an active shooter on the Villanova University campus.

In a post on X, Radnor Township Police told nearby residents and students to shelter in place. In an alert on the campus website, the university said to "Stay Clear of Law School Scarpa Hall" and to lock/barricade doors.

Villanova University is a private Catholic university in the Philadelphia suburbs. It borders Lower Merion Township and Radnor Township at the center of the city’s wealthy Main Line neighborhoods.

New student orientation and registration started Thursday and is scheduled to go until Saturday. Classes begin Monday.

Pope Leo XIV, the first Pope from the United States, is a Villanova alumnus from the Class of 1977, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics.