Campus Alert Archive
SCSU

Run. Hide. Fight. -- Then Disregard: How a Suicidal Man With a Knife Became an Active-Shooter Alert at St. Cloud State

MNswattingemergency notificationmedium confidence
UnfoundedNo evidence of an actual threat was found. The institutional response is documented because the alert communication is identical to what would occur during a real incident.

On the evening of May 8, 2023, St. Cloud State University's Star Alert system sent two simultaneous messages to campus -- a text saying there was an active shooter using 'RUN. HIDE. FIGHT.' language, and an email about a suspicious person -- triggering campus-wide panic before a correction arrived six minutes later. The underlying incident was a suicidal man with a knife near 4th Avenue and Highway 23, not an active shooter. Police persuaded the man to drop the knife and took him to hospital; no one was injured.

Alerts
3
Response
14 min
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
St. Cloud State University
Public Masters · MN
~9,500 studentsStar Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 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 reconstruction110 chars
Star Alert: ACTIVE SHOOTER on SCSU campus. RUN. HIDE. FIGHT. Protect yourself. Emergency personnel responding.

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

The text message went out at approximately 10:45 p.m. CDT on May 8, 2023 with active-shooter 'RUN. HIDE. FIGHT.' language; the simultaneous email correctly described only a suspicious person -- a split-channel error in the Star Alert system.
SCSU's active-shooter procedure uses the exact phrase 'RUN. HIDE. FIGHT.' -- the text inadvertently triggered this template rather than the suspicious-person template, a distinction that caused immediate campus-wide panic.
CORRECTIONSMS+5 min
Approximate reconstruction150 chars
Star Alert Update: DISREGARD previous message. Report is of a SUSPICIOUS PERSON near 4th Ave S. Do not let anyone inside. Law enforcement is on scene.

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

The correction arrived approximately six minutes after the initial alert, at roughly 10:50 p.m. CDT, downgrading the incident to a suspicious-person call and instructing campus members not to allow anyone inside.
A second update confirming the situation was resolved was sent by approximately 11:20 p.m. CDT, about 35 minutes after the erroneous initial alert.
ALL CLEARSMS+35 min
Approximate reconstruction133 chars
Star Alert: All Clear. The suspicious person situation near 4th Ave S has been resolved. No threat to campus. Resume normal activity.

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

The all-clear came roughly 35 minutes after the initial erroneous alert; police had already located and peacefully resolved the situation with a suicidal man who had a knife near the 300 block of 4th Avenue South.
SCSU Public Safety confirmed: 'the issue that led to the messaging error has been resolved for future emergency situations.'
Context

Background

St. Cloud State University operates the Star Alert mass notification system to push emergency messages via text, email, and phone. On the evening of May 8, 2023, a suicidal man armed with a knife was reported in the 300 block of 4th Avenue South -- about one block from the SCSU campus -- and officers were dispatched at approximately 10:31 p.m. CDT. When a campus emergency operator activated the Star Alert system, a formatting or template error caused the text channel to fire the active-shooter 'RUN. HIDE. FIGHT.' template while the simultaneous email correctly described only a suspicious person. The discrepancy triggered campus-wide panic among students and faculty who received the text. A correction went out approximately six minutes later, and a final all-clear followed by 11:20 p.m. Police persuaded the man to drop the knife and transported him to a hospital for a mental health evaluation; no one was hurt. The university issued a statement the next day saying the error was corrected. The incident is a textbook example of split-channel alert failure: two simultaneous messages carrying contradictory severity levels created maximal confusion precisely because people knew one of them must be wrong -- but not which one. Erroneous active-shooter alerts have been documented at several US campuses and consistently produce the same consequence: brief but intense panic that takes time to undo even after a correction is issued.
Analysis

Key Findings

A split-channel error sent active-shooter 'RUN. HIDE. FIGHT.' language by text while the simultaneous email correctly described a suspicious person
The underlying call was a suicidal man with a knife, not an active shooter -- no shots were fired and no one was injured
The correction arrived in six minutes, but the gap between the two messages was long enough to spread campus-wide panic
SCSU acknowledged the error publicly and said the underlying system issue was resolved
Outcome
The man was taken to the hospital for evaluation. No injuries occurred. SCSU acknowledged a messaging error and stated the issue was resolved for future emergencies.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Erroneous alert about 'active shooter' sent to St. Cloud State campus community -- MPR News
    mprnews.org
  2. News
    St. Cloud State erroneously sends active shooter alert: 'RUN. HIDE. FIGHT.' -- Star Tribune
    startribune.com
  3. News
    St. Cloud Police Give Update Regarding Suspicious Person at SCSU -- KNSI Radio
    knsiradio.com
  4. News
    St. Cloud State sends out active shooter alert before quickly changing messaging -- CBS Minnesota
    cbsnews.com
  5. News
    SCSU issues correction message after mistakenly sending active shooter alert -- KSTP
    kstp.com
Tags
erroneous-alertactive-shootersystem-errorsplit-channelsuspicious-personmental-healthminnesotastar-alertcorrectionUnfounded
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion