Campus Alert Archive
HU

A Former Student, Three Handguns, and a Two-Hour Delay Before Anyone Was Told

VAshootingemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

At approximately 1:00 a.m. on April 26, 2009, former Hampton University student Odane Greg Maye, 18, entered Harkness Hall dormitory carrying three handguns. He shot a pizza delivery driver and the building's night manager before shooting himself. All three survived and were airlifted to hospitals. No current students were injured. Hampton's police chief waited roughly two hours to send a campus notification, stating the threat had been contained.

Alerts
2
Response
117 min
Killed
0
Injured
3
Institution
Hampton University
Hbcu · VA
~4,600 studentsPirate Notification System (PNS)
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 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
Approximate reconstruction232 chars
HAMPTON UNIVERSITY ALERT: A shooting incident occurred in Harkness Hall at approximately 1:00 a.m. The suspect has been apprehended. There is no continuing threat to campus. Hampton City Police are investigating. Please remain calm.

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

This alert was sent approximately two hours after the shooting occurred at 1:00 a.m.
Hampton Police Chief Leroy Crosby stated the delay was deliberate: he felt there was no danger because the lone shooter had been apprehended, the crime scene needed to be controlled, and he wanted the information to be accurate
Notifications were sent via text message, telephone message to campus phones including dormitories, and posted on the university website
FOLLOW-UPWebsite
Verified verbatimStatement by Hampton University President Dr. William R. Harvey, reproduced verbatim in NBC News and Hampton University's official campus communications archive163 chars
We are grateful there was no loss of life and no students were involved in any way. We pray for all those who were shot and the one who allegedly did the shooting.
Harvey emphasized that 'no students were involved' — the victims were a pizza delivery driver and the night manager; the shooter was a former student
Harvey met in person with Harkness Hall residents on the day of the shooting and spoke to students at the Sunday service at Memorial Church
Harvey's prayer 'for all those who were shot and the one who allegedly did the shooting' explicitly extended to the perpetrator — an unusual presidential gesture in active-shooter aftermath communications
Context

Background

The Hampton University shooting of April 26, 2009, became a case study in post-incident notification timing. While the shooting itself was relatively contained, with a lone former student targeting non-students in a dormitory before turning the gun on himself, the campus police chief's decision to wait approximately two hours before notifying the campus community drew scrutiny. Chief Leroy Crosby defended the delay by citing three reasons: the lone shooter had already been apprehended, the crime scene needed to be secured for police and medical personnel, and he wanted to ensure accurate information before broadcasting. This reasoning echoed debates that had played out nationally since Virginia Tech, where the two-hour notification gap had been widely condemned. Critics argued that students sleeping in Harkness Hall and neighboring dormitories deserved immediate notification regardless of whether the threat was believed to be contained. The incident also highlighted the unique security challenges at HBCUs, which would face an unprecedented wave of bomb threats beginning in 2022. Hampton University had implemented its text alert system after Virginia Tech but had not established clear protocols for when delay was acceptable.
Analysis

Key Findings

A two-hour delay between the shooting and the first campus notification reprised the Virginia Tech notification timeline debate
The police chief's stated rationale for delay (threat contained, scene control, accuracy) was logical but controversial
The incident involved a former student who bypassed vehicle checkpoints by parking off campus and entering on foot
All three victims survived, but the delayed notification left dormitory residents unaware of the shooting for hours
Outcome
All three shooting victims survived and were hospitalized. The shooter was taken into custody. Hampton's police chief stated the two-hour notification delay was intentional because the lone shooter had been apprehended and he wanted to ensure accurate information before alerting campus.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Three wounded in Hampton University shooting - CNN
    cnn.com
  2. News
    3 hurt in shooting at Va.'s Hampton University - NBC News
    nbcnews.com
  3. Official
    Hampton University Student Connection - Campus Communication
    hamptonu.edu
  4. News
    Former Student Opens Fire at Hampton U. - NBC Washington
    nbcwashington.com
Tags
shootinghbcudelayed-notificationdormitoryformer-studentnotification-timing-debate2009
Added April 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion