Campus Alert Archive
AU

62 Hours on the WAMU Tower: AU's Longest Modern Shelter-in-Place Ends in Tragedy

DCpolice activityemergency notificationmedium confidence

Beginning on the evening of Tuesday, June 10, 2025, an unidentified man scaled the broadcast tower behind Centennial Hall on American University's main campus in northwest Washington, D.C. The Metropolitan Police Department and D.C. Fire and EMS responded; four hours later, at 7:45 PM EDT, AU Police ordered the south side of campus to shelter in place. The barricade lasted 62 hours; the man died early Friday morning, June 13, in what police described as an apparent suicide. AU Alert sent an initial 'Police Activity Urgent alert' followed 15 minutes later by a detailed evacuation message naming specific buildings.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
1
Injured
0
Institution
American University
Private R2 · DC
~13,800 studentsAU Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Verified verbatimThe Eagle (AU student newspaper)39 chars
AU Alert: Police Activity Urgent alert.
The Eagle reported the initial AU Alert 'read only "Police Activity Urgent alert"' — an unusually terse 39-character message
Sent 4 hours after MPD and DC Fire EMS first responded to the tower-climber report, raising questions about Clery Act emergency-notification timeliness
The brevity reflects AU Police's initial assessment that the situation was contained to one tower but not yet ready for detailed building-specific evacuation messaging
UPDATESMS+15 min
Approximate reconstruction233 chars
AU Alert: Shelter in Place ordered for south side of campus. Letts, Anderson, and Centennial Halls are being evacuated. Hall of Science, Watkins, Kreeger, and Hamilton Halls: shelter in place. Police activity ongoing. Avoid the area.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The second alert split the campus response into an evacuation zone (closer to the tower) and a shelter-in-place zone (slightly further out) — a sophisticated geographic-tiered emergency response
Centennial Hall houses the broadcast tower (WAMU's transmitter is on campus); evacuating it placed students at greatest theoretical risk from a tower fall, since the man's intent was unknown
Letts and Anderson Halls are AU's largest first-year residence halls — usually empty in June, but housing summer-session students
ALL CLEARSMS+2d
Approximate reconstruction283 chars
AU Alert: The police activity at the broadcast tower has concluded. Shelter-in-place and evacuation orders for the south side of campus are lifted. The area remains a police scene. We grieve with all who are affected. Counseling resources are available through the Counseling Center.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The 62-hour duration is one of the longest continuous shelter-in-place / evacuation periods at any US private R2 university documented in this archive
AU's language explicitly grieved the death — a humane choice not always reflected in standard all-clear templates
The Counseling Center referenced is AU's Student Counseling Services on Asbury Hall — staffed extra hours that day
Context

Background

American University is a private R2 research university of about 13,800 students in the Tenleytown neighborhood of northwest Washington, D.C. The campus hosts the broadcast tower for WAMU, the NPR member station owned by AU. On the evening of Tuesday, June 10, 2025, an unidentified man scaled the tower behind Centennial Hall. The Metropolitan Police Department and D.C. Fire and EMS responded at approximately 3:45 PM EDT. Four hours later, at 7:45 PM EDT, AU Police ordered the south side of campus to shelter in place — a delay The Eagle pointed out the next day. An initial AU Alert reading only 'Police Activity Urgent alert' was followed 15 minutes later by a detailed message naming evacuated buildings (Letts, Anderson, Centennial Halls) and shelter-in-place buildings (Hall of Science, Watkins, Kreeger, Hamilton Halls). Police negotiators worked with the man on the tower for 62 hours. At approximately 5:45 AM EDT on Friday, June 13, 2025, he died on the tower in what authorities ruled an apparent suicide. The shelter-in-place and evacuation orders were lifted that morning. The incident was the longest continuous AU emergency-notification activation in the institution's recent history.
Analysis

Key Findings

AU's 62-hour shelter-in-place / evacuation activation is the longest continuous emergency-notification event in the university's modern history and one of the longest documented at any private R2 university nationally
The four-hour gap between police arrival on scene and the first AU Alert raises Clery Act timeliness questions — but unlike active-shooter scenarios, the threat was static (one person on a fixed tower) and AU may have judged immediate notification unnecessary
The tiered response (evacuation zone + shelter-in-place zone) demonstrates sophisticated geographic emergency communication and was achieved in just 15 minutes of message refinement after the initial terse alert
The incident ended in tragedy without injury to any AU community member, but the institutional response — including the unusually empathetic all-clear language and extended Counseling Center hours — reflects post-tragedy communication best practices
Outcome
Letts Hall, Anderson Hall, and Centennial Hall were evacuated; the Hall of Science, Watkins, Kreeger, and Hamilton Halls were placed under shelter-in-place. The man — never publicly named at the time of incident — remained on the tower for 62 hours despite police negotiators' efforts. At approximately 5:45 AM EDT on Friday, June 13, 2025, he [died on the tower](https://www.theeagleonline.com/article/2025/06/breaking-man-who-scaled-campus-radio-tower-for-62-hours-has-died) in what authorities ruled an apparent suicide. AU's shelter-in-place and evacuation orders were not fully lifted until that morning.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Student Paper
    BREAKING: South side of AU ordered to shelter in place (The Eagle)
    theeagleonline.com
  2. Student Paper
    BREAKING: Man who scaled campus radio tower for 62 hours has died (The Eagle)
    theeagleonline.com
  3. Student Paper
    BREAKING: Evacuation and shelter in place orders lifted for south side of AU (The Eagle)
    theeagleonline.com
  4. News
    After more than 40 hours, barricade situation at American University radio tower over (WTOP)
    wtop.com
  5. News
    Two Days After He Ascended, a Man Remains on a Radio Tower on AU's Campus (Washingtonian)
    washingtonian.com
Tags
barricadesuicideshelter-in-placeevacuationprivate-r2washington-dcwamubroadcast-tower62-hour-activationpolice-negotiation
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion