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College goes on lockdown after Star Wars toy mistaken for a gun

Technically Incorrect: It turns out the weapon someone reportedly saw being assembled at a New York college was a lightsaber and the situation has been "resolved without incident."

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.


farmi.jpg

Wait, does that mascot have a lightsaber too?

Farmingdale State College/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

It isn't funny until it is.

On Wednesday morning, everyone at Farmingdale State College on Long Island, New York, was reportedly told to stay in a safe place after someone had called 911 to say they'd seen a man in a car with a rifle.

As the Associated Press reports, the caller thought the man was assembling the rifle.

It seems that when police arrived it wasn't quite the weapon that had been feared.

A Farmingdale spokeswoman told the AP that it was a "Star Wars" toy and Suffolk County Police confirmed to Newsday that it was, indeed, a lightsaber.

Neither the college nor the campus police immediately replied to requests for comment.

However, the college took to its Twitter account and said: "The police situation on campus has been resolved without incident. All students, faculty, and staff should resume normal activities."

It's unclear who reported the man or who he was. Police, though, told Newsday the man with the lightsaber was a student.

No charges were filed.

This isn't the first time that "Star Wars" has caused a scare. Last year, a man was arrested after being seen outside a school wearing a Stormtrooper costume, complete with laser gun. At the time, the man told a local news station: "Like I'm some kind of weirdo or something?"

In 2014, Farmingdale was named the fifth-safest college campus in the US.

In our current time, however, threats are seen everywhere. Who can argue with a bystander being extra careful?

Still, I wonder what sort of ribbing the lightsaber owner will enjoy. For having a lightsaber in his car, I mean.