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A single gunshot was accidentally fired by an NYPD officer inside Hamilton Hall on the campus of Columbia University while police worked to remove anti-Israel agitators from the building on Tuesday night, the department confirmed Thursday.
In a statement to Fox News on Thursday, the NYPD said the single shot was accidentally fired when an Emergency Service Unit officer attempted to access a barricaded area during an “extensive and methodical search” on the first floor.
The officer, who was not identified, had a firearm equipped with a flashlight and was illuminating the area when he accidentally discharged it one time, the department said. The round did not hit anybody or cause any injuries, only striking a frame in the wall a few feet away.
“At no time was anyone, except police personnel, in sight or sound of this accidental discharge,” the department said, adding that an “immediate investigation” into the incident proved it to be accidental.
NYPD officers in riot gear enter Hamilton Hall through a window at Columbia University, where anti-Israel agitators were barricaded inside on Tuesday. (Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images)
Bodycam footage of the incident was also given to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. DA Alvin Bragg has not commented on the incident as of Thursday night.
The gunfire came as a result of NYPD police officers raiding Hamilton Hall late Tuesday night as hundreds of anti-Israel agitators had broken into and barricaded themselves inside for more than 20 hours.
Recently released police bodycam video showed the moment officers breached Hamilton Hall, wearing riot gear and using a tool to open a front door, which had multiple chairs stacked against it from the inside.
NYPD SHARES GLIMPSE INTO RAID REMOVING ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS FROM COLUMBIA’S HAMILTON HALL
NYPD officers enter Hamilton Hall through a window at Columbia University, where anti-Israel protesters were barricaded inside the building on Tuesday in New York City. (Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images)
Many of the protesters were not students at the university, but outside agitators, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tarik Sheppard told “Your World Cavuto” on Thursday.
Authorities were only allowed to move protesters from the campus after the university officially requested help, Sheppard said, adding that several universities in the city have asked the NYPD to have a presence on their campus at least through the middle of May.
More than 100 protesters were taken into custody during the crackdown. They are part of more than 2,000 people who have been arrested during pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses across the United States in recent weeks, according to an Associated Press tally Thursday.
Bragg’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
