WILMINGTON — Wilmington Police as well as Wilmington College spread the word as quickly as possible Wednesday morning that there was never any active shooter situation on or near the campus.

Some local people picked up on information that an incident was occurring in Wilmington, Illinois, and word began to spread that it was happening in Wilmington, Ohio, according to both police and the college.

Police patrolled Wilmington College as a precaution and cleared the scene Wednesday morning, according to WPD Det, Bob Wilson and Wilmington College spokesperson Randy Sarvis.

Wilmington police issued a statement Wednesday morning: “At 8:51 a.m. this morning, our Communications Center received third-party calls regarding a possible active shooter near or around Wilmington College. Officers responded swiftly and spoke with College personnel who was not aware of any situation. Through further investigation, this report was found to be a domino effect. Someone received a news feed on their cell phone from their Facebook feed on a City of Wilmington Police Department Facebook page advising of a manhunt. We were able to locate that the City was Wilmington, Illinois and not Wilmington, Ohio.

“We want to stress to everyone to clarify any news feeds that you may receive from Facebook or other social media posts. This particular post was apparently shared and forwarded, thus the domino effect. We also want to stress that our Facebook page clearly indicates Wilmington Police Department-OHIO (If your news feed doesn’t say OHIO, it is not from us). Hopefully, this will clear up any confusion for anyone in the future if they are trying to determine if the post is from our agency. Thanks to Clinton County Sheriff’s Office for responding to assist.”

Illinois incident

WGN in Chicago reported early Wednesday morning that “One suspect is in custody and another suspect is at large after an armed carjacking led to a high-speed police chase into Wilmington (Illinois)” after an armed carjacking took place in Calumet City, Ill.

Early Wednesday morning Wilmington, Ill. police advised that a suspect was at large in that area and a manhunt was underway, with citizens advised to stay in their homes.