Campus Alert Archive
FIT

A Video Posted to Social Media With the Words 'School Shooter, Thank God It's Friday' Shut Down a Fashion School in Manhattan

NYthreat of violenceemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed HoaxDetermined to be a hoax. The institutional response is documented because it reveals how the alert system performed under a perceived real threat.

On the evening of April 5, 2019, the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan was placed under a shelter-in-place order after students reported a social media video showing a fellow student in a campus stairwell appearing to aim what looked like a handgun at doors, captioned 'school shooter, thank god it's Friday.' FIT Alert sent a shelter-in-place notification shortly after 6 p.m. EDT directing everyone to lock doors and secure windows. The suspect, 22-year-old Noah Lee, was arrested without incident at a nearby Union Square Barnes & Noble. Lee was charged with two counts of terrorism and weapons offenses; the weapon was a pellet gun.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Fashion Institute of Technology
Public Bachelors · NY
~9,000 studentsFIT Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Approximate reconstructionCBS New York (quoted FIT Alert text)108 chars
Due to an unspecified threat, a shelter in place is in effect. Please lock all doors and secure all windows.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Sent just after 6 p.m. EDT on April 5, 2019, approximately 30 minutes after students first notified FIT Public Safety officers of the social media video
The message does not describe the nature of the threat, consistent with FIT's posture of issuing a shelter-in-place before full details were confirmed
Text quoted by CBS New York as the content of the FIT Alert shelter-in-place message; not pulled from an official archive
ALL CLEARSMS+40 min
Approximate reconstructionPatch Chelsea NY (paraphrased all-clear timeline)86 chars
FIT Campus is all clear. Normal operations may resume. Thank you for your cooperation.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The all-clear came at approximately 6:40 p.m. EDT, about 40 minutes after the initial shelter-in-place, once NYPD confirmed that Lee had been apprehended at a Barnes & Noble in Union Square with a pellet gun
Text is a plausible reconstruction based on the Patch and NBC New York timelines; the exact wording of the FIT all-clear is not preserved in the sources consulted
NYPD officials stated publicly at 6:40 p.m. that there was no active threat
Context

Background

The Fashion Institute of Technology is a SUNY campus on West 27th Street in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, enrolling roughly 9,000 students in design, fashion, art, and business programs. On the afternoon of April 5, 2019, students alerted FIT Public Safety officers to a social media video that appeared to show a 22-year-old student, Noah Lee, in a campus stairwell at 227 West 27th Street, holding what looked like a handgun and ending the clip with the words 'school shooter, thank god it's Friday.' FIT issued a shelter-in-place alert shortly after 6 p.m. EDT, telling students and faculty to lock all doors and secure windows. NYPD officers responded and located Lee within about 40 minutes at the Union Square Barnes & Noble, where he was taken into custody without incident. The weapon turned out to be a pellet gun. Lee was charged with two counts of making a terroristic threat, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, and one count of criminal possession of a firearm. In the week that followed, FIT announced it would expand safety workshops and active-threat training for students and faculty, per WWD. The case illustrates how a social-media-broadcast pellet-gun stunt can trigger a full shelter-in-place at an urban arts campus embedded in a commercial Manhattan block.
Outcome
Noah Lee was taken into custody at approximately 6:40 p.m. EDT at the Barnes & Noble at Union Square with a pellet gun. NYPD determined there was no active threat. Lee was charged with two counts of making a terroristic threat, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, and one count of criminal possession of a firearm. No injuries were reported.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    NYC's Fashion Institute Of Technology Locked Down After School Shooting Threat, Student Charged - CBS New York
    cbsnews.com
  2. News
    Suspect Charged With Terrorism in FIT Gun Scare: NYPD - NBC New York
    nbcnewyork.com
  3. News
    Man charged with terrorism after gun scare at Fashion Institute of Technology - ABC7 New York
    abc7ny.com
  4. News
    Man With Pellet Gun Taken Into Custody At FIT - Patch Chelsea NY
    patch.com
  5. News
    FIT Increases Safety Workshops After Brief Campus Lockdown Due to Last Week's Live Shooter Scare - WWD
    wwd.com
  6. Source
    Citizen was the only way I found out why FIT was locked down - Medium / Citizen Blog
    medium.com
Tags
fashion-schoolarts-schoolthreat-of-violencesocial-media-threatpellet-gunshelter-in-placenew-york-citymanhattansunyterrorism-chargespecialty-institutionHoax
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion