Campus Alert Archive
K-College

Thursday 10:50 AM: A Convenience Store Murder Half a Block Away Locked Down Kalamazoo's Liberal Arts Campus

MIshootingemergency notificationmedium confidence

On Thursday, September 28, 2023, a shooting at a Circle K convenience store at West Lovell Street and Oakland Drive in Kalamazoo at approximately 10:50 AM EDT killed one man and critically wounded another, prompting a brief campus-wide lockdown at Kalamazoo College -- a private liberal arts institution of approximately 1,400 students located immediately adjacent to the shooting scene. The victim, 35-year-old Tyrone Jerome Potts of Kalamazoo, was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Kalamazoo police said the shooting did not appear to be random and were searching for a white Dodge Journey.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Kalamazoo College
Private Liberal Arts · MI
K-Alert
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 ALERTSMS
Approximate reconstruction159 chars
K-Alert: Kalamazoo College is on lockdown. Shooting reported near campus on W. Lovell St. Police on scene. Shelter in place. Avoid the area. Updates to follow.

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

Issued shortly after the 10:50 AM EDT shooting at the Circle K at West Lovell and Oakland Drive -- the intersection is within a block of Kalamazoo College's campus edge
K-College's campus sits directly along the West Lovell Street corridor in downtown Kalamazoo, making off-campus violence at that intersection an immediate safety concern
The Kalamazoo Central Library was simultaneously locked down, reflecting a coordinated city-wide caution response to a shooter believed still at large
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstruction217 chars
K-Alert: All clear. The lockdown at Kalamazoo College has been lifted. Police continue to investigate the shooting on W. Lovell St. Avoid the immediate area around W. Lovell and Oakland. Contact KDPS with information.

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

The all-clear was issued after the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety established that the shooter had fled the area in a white Dodge Journey with Michigan plate 7PJS08
Police classified the shooting as targeted rather than random, which reduced the threat to bystanders and campus community members and allowed reopening
Kalamazoo College's all-clear came without a suspect in custody -- a reminder that the lockdown gate function is to protect during the immediate threat, not to wait for full resolution
Context

Background

On the morning of September 28, 2023, two men were shot near a Circle K convenience store at West Lovell Street and Oakland Drive in Kalamazoo, Michigan at approximately 10:50 AM EDT. Tyrone Jerome Potts, 35, was critically wounded and died shortly after arriving at the hospital; a second victim was shot multiple times and survived. Kalamazoo College, a private liberal arts institution founded in 1833 with approximately 1,400 students, is located immediately adjacent to the shooting scene on West Lovell Street -- the college's campus boundary runs along the same corridor. The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety (KDPS) launched a search for a white Dodge Journey with Michigan license plate 7PJS08. Both Kalamazoo College and the Kalamazoo Central Library went into brief lockdowns as police worked the scene. KDPS said the shooting appeared targeted and not random, consistent with the suspect vehicle leaving immediately after the shots were fired. The lockdown was brief, with both facilities reopening after police established the suspect had left the area. The Western Herald, the student newspaper at nearby Western Michigan University, covered the incident noting K-College's proximity to the shooting.
Analysis

Key Findings

K-College's decision to lock down reflects the tight geographic relationship between the campus and Kalamazoo's urban grid -- the West Lovell and Oakland intersection is within a block of the campus perimeter
A brief lockdown without a suspect in custody illustrates the standard operating procedure of using lockdown as a protective measure during the active threat window, not indefinitely
The simultaneous lockdown of a public library and a private liberal arts college demonstrates the city-campus coordination typical in dense urban settings where academic and municipal spaces overlap
Outcome
The lockdown was brief and lifted after the immediate perimeter search by Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety. No suspects were apprehended during the initial response. The Kalamazoo Central Library was also temporarily locked down. Kalamazoo College and the library both reopened within hours.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    KDPS: 1 dead after shooting at convenience store (WOODTV)
    woodtv.com
  2. News
    Man dies in Kalamazoo shooting, police search for suspect's vehicle (WWMT)
    wwmt.com
  3. Student Paper
    Kalamazoo shooting leaves one dead, one injured (Western Herald, K-College student newspaper)
    westernherald.com
  4. News
    1 dead, another hurt in Kalamazoo shooting (WZZM13)
    wzzm13.com
  5. News
    2 shot in Kalamazoo, causing brief lockdown of college (YouTube/local TV)
    youtube.com
Tags
off-campus-shootinglockdownmichigankalamazooprivate-liberal-artsurban-campusnearby-shootingtargeted-shootingno-campus-injuries
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion