Campus Alert Archive
SCCC

A Man Claiming He Was 'Chased' Barricaded Himself in an Ammerman File Room

NYpolice activityemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

Around midday on September 23, 2025, a man who was not a student ran into the Ammerman Building at Suffolk County Community College's Selden campus, walked past staff, and barricaded himself inside a third-floor file room, claiming he was being chased. According to a campus-wide alert he carried a pocketknife but never displayed it, and made no threats. The Ammerman Building was briefly closed out of an abundance of caution and staff were ushered out before police removed and detained the man without incident.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
Suffolk County Community College
Community College · NY
NY-Alert / SCCC Public Safety
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 reconstruction175 chars
Public Safety Alert: The Ammerman Building is closed out of an abundance of caution due to a person who entered the building. Avoid the Ammerman Building until further notice.

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

Reconstructed alert wording; Compass News reported a campus-wide alert was issued and that the man entered the Ammerman Building around midday on September 23, 2025 and shut himself in a third-floor file room, but the exact verbatim text was not located.
Sources differ slightly on the time: Compass News described it as a Tuesday afternoon around 12:05 p.m., while News12 cited about 12:15 p.m.; September 23, 2025 was a Tuesday.
ALL CLEARUnknown
Approximate reconstruction138 chars
Public Safety Alert: The individual has been taken into custody. The Ammerman Building is reopening. There is no ongoing threat to campus.

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

Reconstructed all-clear; reporting indicated the man was removed from the building and taken into custody without incident on September 23, 2025, and the Ammerman Building reopened shortly afterward.
This is a genuine all-clear because it states the person is in custody and there is no ongoing threat, lifting the building closure.
Context

Background

Suffolk County Community College's Ammerman Campus in Selden is the system's flagship campus; the Ammerman Building houses administrative offices. According to the college's student newspaper Compass News, a man who was not a student ran into the Ammerman Building around midday on September 23, 2025, walked past staff, and locked himself inside a third-floor file room, claiming he was being chased. The paper reported he carried a pocketknife but did not display it and made no threats, appearing to be 'under stress.' News12 Long Island reported the building was briefly shut down out of an abundance of caution, staff were ushered out, and Suffolk County police apprehended the man without incident. The episode illustrates the campus-safety challenge of a non-violent person in apparent mental-health crisis who nonetheless triggers a building closure and an emergency alert.
Analysis

Key Findings

The man was not a student and made no threats; the alert and building closure were precautionary responses to a barricaded person in apparent distress
He carried a pocketknife that was never displayed, which still warranted a measured emergency response
Sources differ on the exact start time (around 12:05 p.m. per Compass News versus about 12:15 p.m. per News12), so an approximate timestamp is used
Outcome
Suffolk County police took the man into custody without incident. No threats were made and no one was injured; the man appeared to be in distress. The Ammerman Building reopened shortly afterward.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Student Paper
    Man Taken Into Custody After Barricading in Ammerman - Compass News
    sccompassnews.com
  2. News
    Man with pocketknife sparks scare at Suffolk Community College's Ammerman Campus - News12 Long Island
    longisland.news12.com
Tags
suspicious-personemergency-notificationnew-yorkcommunity-collegesunybarricademental-healthlong-island
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion