False alarm spurs lockdowns
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A false alarm for an active shooter at UPMC Station Medical Center sent the surrounding area, including Altoona Area School District buildings, into lockdown.
The alarm alerted the Altoona Police Department to an active shooter situation about 2:30 p.m., with one dispatcher coming over the police scanner to say that "it was not a drill."
Law enforcement began leaving the scene at about 2:45 p.m. after determining it was a false alarm.
Patrol Officer Christy Wasser said that the medical center's security was running tests on its systems and accidentally triggered the alarm.
"There was no active shooter, but we responded as though there was," Wasser said.
Wasser said that this was not the first time an alarm had been accidentally triggered at the medical center.