Campus Alert Archive
PSU Beaver

Christmas Presents as a Pretext: A Domestic Violence Murder-Suicide at a Small Branch Campus

PAshootingemergency notificationhigh confidence
Confirmed Threat

On December 13, 2017, William Kelly, 52, shot and killed his ex-wife Lesli Kelly, 49, a Penn State food services employee, in a parking lot near the campus Bistro at Penn State Beaver. He then killed himself. The two had recently divorced and were in a custody dispute. Kelly had arranged to meet under the guise of dropping off Christmas presents for their children. Penn State Beaver issued a campus alert at 3:56 p.m. stating shots had been fired but that the situation was contained.

Alerts
3
Response
5 min
Killed
1
Injured
0
Institution
Penn State Beaver
Public Bachelors · PA
~700 studentsPSUAlert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence · 3 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Verified verbatimPenn State Beaver Official News136 chars
01PSU AlertBR: Shots fired near Bistro. Situation is contained. We will remain on lockdown until further notice. Authorities responding.
The '01PSU AlertBR' prefix identifies this as a Penn State Beaver-specific alert within the broader Penn State system
The alert simultaneously confirmed shots fired and stated the situation was contained, reflecting the rapid determination that the shooter was also dead
Sent at 3:56 p.m., shortly after the shooting in the parking lot near the campus food services building
UPDATESMS+21 min
Verified verbatimPenn State Beaver Official News131 chars
01PSU AlertBR: Incident on campus. Police on scene. No threat at this time. Please avoid Student Union Bldg and Food Services area.
Sent 21 minutes after the initial alert, this message clarified there was no ongoing threat
Directed people to avoid the Student Union Building and Food Services area where the shooting occurred
The campus was subsequently closed for the remainder of the day
ALL CLEARWebsite
Verified verbatimExact campus-status update from Penn State Beaver's official incident page638 chars
Authorities confirm the threat has ended, however, the campus remains closed while the investigation continues. Additional details will be released as they become available. Students who live on campus are being asked to remain in the residence hall until campus reopens on Thursday. All commuter students, faculty and non-essential employees have been sent home. Many administrators have remained on campus and are with the resident students. The campus will reopen at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 14 at which time counselors will be on site and available to students, staff and faculty. Both housing and food services will operate as usual.
The official web update paired an all-clear fact ('the threat has ended') with continued campus closure while police preserved the scene and completed the investigation
Resident students were told to remain in the residence hall while commuter students, faculty, and non-essential employees were sent home, showing a channel choice tailored to a small residential branch campus rather than a broad University Park-style lockdown
The same update gave a specific 8 a.m. reopening time and promised on-site counselors, making recovery logistics part of the safety message rather than a later administrative addendum
Context

Background

The Penn State Beaver shooting of December 13, 2017, was a domestic violence murder-suicide that unfolded at one of Penn State's smallest commonwealth campuses, a branch campus with roughly 700 students in Monaca, Pennsylvania. William Kelly had arranged to meet his recently divorced ex-wife, Lesli Kelly, in the campus parking lot under the pretense of dropping off Christmas presents for their children. Instead, he pulled out two .45-caliber handguns and shot her before killing himself. The incident raised uncomfortable questions about workplace violence and domestic violence spillover onto college campuses. Lesli Kelly was a food services employee, not a student, and the shooter had no affiliation with the university. Penn State's alert system performed well technically; the first notification went out within minutes and accurately conveyed both the incident and the contained status. The Daily Collegian reported on the shooting, and CBS News captured the police-confirmed murder-suicide frame that local outlets carried nationally. Penn State Beaver Chancellor Jennifer Cushman confirmed that no students were involved. The campus closed for the remainder of the day and reopened the following morning. The incident illustrated that campus violence is not limited to large research universities or to student-on-student conflict. Small branch campuses with minimal security infrastructure can become sites of domestic violence when employees' personal lives intersect with the workplace.
Analysis

Key Findings

The shooting was a domestic violence murder-suicide involving a campus employee and her estranged ex-husband, not a student-related incident
Penn State's PSU Alert system delivered accurate, timely notifications within minutes of the shooting
The initial alert simultaneously confirmed shots fired and stated the situation was contained, an unusual combination that reflected the murder-suicide resolution
The incident highlighted that small branch campuses with limited security are vulnerable to domestic violence spillover
Outcome
Lesli Kelly was killed and William Kelly died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No students were involved or injured. The campus was closed for the remainder of the day and reopened at 8:00 a.m. the following morning.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
    Police confirm two dead following shooting on Penn State Beaver campus - Penn State Beaver
    beaver.psu.edu
  2. Student Paper
    Penn State Beaver shooting: Ex-couple dead following commonwealth campus murder-suicide - The Daily Collegian
    collegian.psu.edu
  3. News
    Estranged Husband Kills Penn State Beaver Employee And Himself In Campus Parking Lot - WESA
    wesa.fm
  4. News
    Officials: 2 dead in possible murder-suicide at Penn State Beaver campus - CBS News
    cbsnews.com
Tags
shootingdomestic-violencemurder-suicideworkplace-violencebranch-campussmall-campusemployee-targeted2017
Added April 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion