Student paper at UVA spreads rumor about dorm room searches on Twitter

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., April 9 (UPI) -- The University of Virginia's student newspaper tweeted a false warning about randomized dorm searches that sent the campus into a tizzy.

Students on Twitter began using the hash tag #UVAdormsearch Monday after the paper's initial tweet. Others emptied or hid their prohibited bottles of booze, The Washington Post said.

The dean of students tweeted "Hoax?" as news of the fake searches began to spread, the Post said.

The newspaper then retweeted tweets from the housing department, as well as campus and local police, which said there were no searches underway.