Campus Alert Archive
CU Boulder

Domestic Violence Suspect with Active Protection Order Triggers CU Boulder Shelter-in-Place at Folsom Garage, Dies by Suicide After Four-Hour SWAT Standoff

COarmed personemergency notificationhigh confidence
Confirmed Threat

On February 24, 2025, CU Boulder issued an emergency shelter-in-place after an armed man with an active domestic violence protection order was seen on campus near Folsom Parking Garage with a handgun, having earlier threatened to shoot himself and others. After the campus shelter-in-place was lifted at 3:29 PM MST, Boulder Police SWAT located the suspect in a neighborhood near Table Mesa Drive, where Joshua Provenza, 20, died by suicide at approximately 7:15 PM MST following a four-hour standoff after SWAT officers spent hours negotiating and the suspect refused to lower his weapon.

Alerts
3
Response
70 min
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
University of Colorado Boulder
Public R1 · CO
~37,000 studentsEverbridgeCU Emergency 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 verbatimCU Boulder Alerts official archive, February 24, 2025113 chars
CU EMERGENCY ALERT: Large police presence at Folsom Parking Garage/Champion Center. Avoid area. Shelter in place.
Issued at approximately 2:40 PM MST on February 24, 2025, after a witness called police reporting a man near Folsom Parking Garage had a gun fall from his pants and then put it back and fled on foot to a vehicle; this was later linked to an earlier morning call about a man in crisis threatening to shoot himself and others.
The alert directed individuals at Folsom Parking Garage and the Champion Center -- located adjacent to Folsom Field stadium -- to shelter in place, reflecting the dual-phase response as CUPD secured the garage while the suspect had already left campus in a vehicle.
UPDATESMS+33 min
Approximate reconstruction178 chars
CU UPDATE: CUPD is securing Folsom Parking Garage. If you are in the garage, exit immediately and follow police instructions. Shelter-in-place remains in effect for stadium area.

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

At approximately 3:13 PM MST, CUPD actively swept Folsom Parking Garage floor by floor as the suspect had fled in a vehicle; the sweep was precautionary to confirm the suspect was not still on campus.
The shelter-in-place remained active for the Folsom stadium footprint while the broader campus lockdown was not extended -- a graduated response reflecting CU's zoned alert protocol.
ALL CLEARSMS+49 min
Approximate reconstruction177 chars
CU ALL CLEAR: Shelter-in-place lifted for stadium/Champion Center/Folsom Garage area. Folsom Garage is secure. Incident has moved to City of Boulder. Continue to avoid the area.

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

The 3:29 PM MST campus all-clear was issued once CUPD confirmed Folsom Parking Garage was clear; Boulder Police Department separately issued its own shelter-in-place for the Table Mesa Drive and South Broadway neighborhood as SWAT engaged the suspect off campus.
The final Boulder Police shelter-in-place was lifted after Joshua Provenza died by suicide at approximately 7:15 PM MST, concluding the full multi-location incident that spanned from campus to a residential neighborhood more than five miles away.
Context

Background

The February 24, 2025 CU Boulder incident unfolded across two distinct phases and two separate jurisdictions. At approximately 11:30 AM MST, Boulder Police received a 911 call about a man in crisis who had threatened to shoot himself and others. At approximately 1:30 PM, CUPD received a separate call from a witness who saw a gun fall from the pants of a man walking on campus near Folsom Parking Garage; the man retrieved the weapon and fled in a vehicle. Police later determined both calls involved the same person. At 2:40 PM MST, CU Boulder activated its emergency alert system with a shelter-in-place for the Folsom Garage and Champion Center area. CUPD secured and swept the garage; by 3:29 PM the campus shelter-in-place was lifted. Boulder Police SWAT simultaneously located the suspect's vehicle in a residential neighborhood near Table Mesa Drive and South Broadway, where they activated their own shelter-in-place. Negotiators engaged the suspect for more than four hours while he refused to lower the handgun. The suspect was identified as Joshua Provenza, 20, a former probationary Boulder Fire-Rescue firefighter who had been terminated in March 2024 for violating the department's code of ethics. He had an active domestic violence protection order at the time and was reportedly looking for a former romantic partner on campus. At approximately 7:15 PM MST, Provenza died by suicide. A 9News media analysis noted that CU's alerts provided minimal factual detail during the incident, prompting a campus discussion about how much information should be shared in real-time emergency communications.
Analysis

Key Findings

The incident split across two jurisdictions: CU Boulder campus (shelter-in-place 2:40-3:29 PM MST) and a Boulder residential neighborhood (SWAT standoff 3:43-7:15 PM MST), requiring coordinated dual alerting
The suspect had an active domestic violence protection order and had been on campus reportedly looking for a former romantic partner, illustrating how DV-related campus threats often originate off-campus
CU's graduated, zoned shelter-in-place -- limited to the Folsom stadium footprint rather than the entire campus -- drew post-incident analysis as a model for proportionate emergency notifications
A 9News expert analysis found CU's alerts provided minimal detail during the event, reigniting national debate about information transparency versus operational security in campus emergency communications
Outcome
Joshua Provenza, 20, a former Boulder Fire-Rescue probationary firefighter terminated in March 2024, died by suicide at approximately 7:15 PM MST after a four-hour SWAT standoff in a Boulder neighborhood near Table Mesa Drive. No bystanders or officers were injured.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
    CU Emergency Alert: Incident near Folsom Parking Garage Ends in City of Boulder - CU Boulder Alerts
    alerts.colorado.edu
  2. News
    Armed man dies by suicide after 4-hour standoff with Boulder PD SWAT officers - Denver7
    denver7.com
  3. News
    Suspect dead, Boulder police lift shelter-in-place order after standoff with armed man - CBS Colorado
    cbsnews.com
  4. News
    Police presence, shelter-in-place near Folsom Field on CU Boulder campus - 9News
    9news.com
  5. News
    Expert: CU alerts about armed man on campus followed rules, despite minimal info - 9News
    9news.com
  6. Student Paper
    CU Boulder Independent: Breaking news - CU issues emergency alert near Folsom Stadium
    cuindependent.org
Tags
barricadestandoffarmed-persondomestic-violenceshelter-in-placeswatnegotiationcoloradodeath-by-suicidezoned-alertdual-jurisdictionfolsom-field2025
Added June 2026Updated June 2026Via ingestion