The university, which enrolls nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students, declined to make leaders available for comment, saying their focus was on students, parents, faculty, and staff.

At many levels across America, such hoaxes have been plaguing the nation for years, including at schools, grocery stores, office buildings and airports − anywhere large groups of people gather. Also known as swatting, they're defined as false reports of serious crimes intended to spark a heavy law enforcement response.

Such false emergency calls are known as "swatting," or calling in a large law enforcement response to a non-existent crisis. On the same day, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga was also targeted with reports of an active shooter. Police found no threat.

The emergency call to Villanova’s Department of Public Safety on Thursday included the sound of gunshots in the background, officials said.

A campus alert had been sent around 4:30 p.m. ET during an orientation Mass welcoming new students, who had recently moved in on Aug. 20.

Villanova senior Ava Petrosky was part of a group singing at the ceremony when she saw people in the crowd begin to run.