Campus Alert Archive
DCC

Glendive County Gunfight Sends Dawson Community College and City Schools Into Three-Hour Lockdown

MTarmed personemergency notificationmedium confidence

Dawson Community College in Glendive, Montana, was placed on active hold on November 2, 2023, after two men exchanged gunfire on Marsh Road several miles south of Glendive at approximately 2:45 PM MST. Dawson County Sheriff Ross Canen directed residents within a 10-mile radius to shelter in place while law enforcement searched for a suspect who fled to a nearby homestead. DCC and Glendive Public Schools locked down for approximately three hours; the lockdown was lifted around 6:00 PM MST after the threat was downgraded to an isolated incident.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
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Institution
Dawson Community College
Community College · MT
~350 students
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

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 ALERTUnknown
Approximate reconstruction285 chars
Dawson Community College is on active hold due to a law enforcement incident in the area. All students and employees must remain inside campus buildings with doors locked. Do not enter or leave campus until further notice. Law enforcement is responding to a situation in the community.

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

Montana Right Now confirmed that Dawson Community College and Glendive Public Schools were directed to go on 'active hold' as law enforcement responded to an exchange of gunfire on Marsh Road south of Glendive on November 2, 2023.
Dawson County is one of Montana's most rural counties, with a small population; DCC's enrollment of approximately 350 students means the entire campus community was affected by the hold order.
ALL CLEARUnknown
Approximate reconstruction292 chars
Dawson Community College: The active hold has been lifted. Law enforcement has determined that the threat to the community is no longer active. Campus is now open and students and employees may resume normal activities. The incident has been downgraded to an isolated incident by authorities.

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

Montana Right Now confirmed the situation was downgraded from 'active shooter' to 'isolated incident' around 6:00 PM MST on November 2, 2023, allowing DCC and Glendive schools to lift their active holds after approximately three hours.
The suspect in the Marsh Road gunfight was not apprehended until Friday morning, November 3, 2023; the decision to lift the lockdown on the evening of November 2 reflected law enforcement's assessment that the immediate threat to the Glendive community had passed.
Context

Background

Dawson Community College is a small two-year college in Glendive, Montana, serving Dawson County and the surrounding eastern Montana badlands region. On November 2, 2023, at approximately 2:45 PM MST, two men exchanged gunfire on Marsh Road several miles south of Glendive. Dawson County Sheriff Ross Canen directed residents within a 10-mile radius to shelter in place while law enforcement searched for a suspect believed to have fled to a homestead in the area. Both Dawson Community College and Glendive Public Schools were placed on active hold as a precaution while deputies and other agencies responded. One of the men involved in the exchange suffered minor injuries. The situation was de-escalated around 6:00 PM MST when law enforcement determined the threat to the broader community had passed, allowing schools and DCC to lift their lockdowns. The suspect was ultimately taken into custody on the morning of November 3, 2023. This incident illustrates how rural community colleges in sparsely populated counties frequently face lockdown situations driven by broader community law enforcement events rather than campus-specific threats -- a pattern common in isolated western Montana communities where a single significant off-campus incident can trigger immediate lockdowns at all nearby educational facilities.
Analysis

Key Findings

Dawson Community College was placed on a three-hour active hold on November 2, 2023, due to a gunfight on Marsh Road south of Glendive -- the threat originated off campus but triggered campus lockdown protocols
Dawson County Sheriff directed a 10-mile shelter-in-place radius while searching for a suspect who fled after an exchange of gunfire, with DCC and Glendive schools locked down together as the only major community institutions
The lockdown was lifted around 6:00 PM MST after the threat was downgraded, though the suspect was not apprehended until the following morning -- reflecting the complexity of rural Montana emergency response
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Man taken into custody after hours long active scene in Dawson County
    montanarightnow.com
  2. News
    Man taken into custody after hours long active scene in Dawson Couny
    kulr8.com
  3. News
    Multiple agencies responded to Dawson County shooting, suspect arrested Friday morning
    billingsgazette.com
Tags
armed-personlockdownmontanacommunity-collegeruralcommunity-shelter-in-placeglendivedawson-county
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion