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

Evacuations for an active shooter "hoax" during the Rider University vs. Villanova University soccer game was streamed live on Thursday. The game, which was nearly 40 minutes in, was interrupted as people and players could be seen running off the pitch and out of the stands.

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.

An unfounded active shooter report at Villanova University was a hoax that led to a large police response and a temporary lockdown.

Late Thursday afternoon, police rushed to Villanova University over a report of an active shooter — later determined to be a hoax — searching for someone who did not exist and at one point misidentifying a victim of a gunshot wound who had not been shot,

Villanova University was the center of a major response effort after false 911 reports of an active shooter on campus. Delaware County officials gave an update Friday morning with more details on how the events of the "cruel hoax" unfolded.

Upper Merion police confirmed they received a similar call Thursday, a few hours before the one at Villanova, for an alleged shooting incident at the King of Prussia Mall.