By Natalie Stevens

A burglary occurred in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism’s equipment checkout room, located in Knight Hall, according to an anonymous tip sent to Stories Beneath the Shell Monday night.

According to a text message SBS obtained, the burglary took place after hours on Wednesday. The suspect stole a Sony FX30 camera and a lighting kit from two separate equipment kits. Both equipment kits require special permission to check out.

Staff and faculty members were alerted about the burglary, but no emails have been sent to students.

Dean Rafael Lorente confirmed the burglary happened in an interview Tuesday morning.

“We do know that somebody accessed the equipment room after hours,” Lorente said.

Lorente said the college is taking inventory to figure out what was stolen and that video footage of the incident confirms the burglary. He was unable to provide further details due to an ongoing University of Maryland Police Department investigation.

Clint Bucco, the college’s director of computer services who oversees the checkout room, declined to comment.

UMPD did not respond to SBS’ request for comment.

This story will be updated as more details become available.

Featured Image: Knight Hall, where the Philip Merrill College of Journalism is located at the University of Maryland, College Park on Sept. 30, 2026. Photo by Vanessa Lim.

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story misstated the burglary’s time frame.