Campus Alert Archive
TU

Restaurant Employee Sends Photo Holding Rifle, Threatens Student Union — Police Find Two AR-15s at Home

OKthreat of violenceemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On February 23, 2024, an employee of an on-campus restaurant in the Allan Chapman Student Union sent coworkers a photo of himself holding a rifle, threatening to come and harm staff. The university evacuated the Student Union and sent a text alert at 4:07 PM CST. Two 19-year-olds were arrested at their home where police found two AR-15s, a Glock 23, and a high-capacity drum magazine.

Alerts
4
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
University of Tulsa
Private R2 · OK
~3,600 studentsUTulsa Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

4 messages in sequence · 3 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
Verified verbatimTU text alert quoted verbatim by News On 6122 chars
ACSU is being evacuated. An emergency situation has been reported; authorities are investigating. Stay away from the area.
Sent at 4:07 PM CST on February 23, 2024 according to News On 6 reporting
ACSU refers to the Allan Chapman Student Union, the central student gathering space on the TU campus — the alert assumes student familiarity with the abbreviation rather than spelling it out
The brief 'authorities are investigating' framing avoids confirming the rifle photo threat that had triggered the evacuation
UPDATESMS+41 min
Verified verbatimTU text alert quoted verbatim by News On 680 chars
The situation is still ongoing at the Student Union. Continue to avoid the area.
Sent at 4:48 PM CST — 41 minutes after the initial alert — without offering any new substantive information
Repetition without new information is a recognized pattern in evolving-threat alerts where the institution wants to maintain attention without committing to facts that may change
UPDATESMS+1h 19m
Verified verbatimTU text alert quoted verbatim by News On 6130 chars
The situation is still ongoing at the Student Union. Continue to avoid the area. The Student Union will be closed for the evening.
Sent at 5:26 PM CST, the third TU text in 79 minutes
First operational decision communicated: the Student Union would remain closed for the evening — a signal that the investigation would extend beyond a quick resolution
Michael Johnson and Marshon Duckett, both 19, were arrested later that evening at their home where police seized two AR-15s, a Glock 23, and a high-capacity drum magazine
ALL CLEARSMS+3h 46m
Approximate reconstructionTU all-clear alert paraphrased by News On 6 reporting that included the 6:30 AM Saturday reopening detail94 chars
TU ALERT: Two suspects are in custody. The Student Union will reopen at 6:30 Saturday morning.

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

Sent at 7:53 PM CST, just under four hours after the initial 4:07 PM evacuation alert
News On 6 paraphrased this alert by name and timing but did not preserve the exact wording, so this remains a partial reconstruction grounded in the confirmed reopening detail
The 6:30 AM Saturday reopening timing was the operational signal that police considered the immediate threat resolved
Context

Background

On February 23, 2024, an employee of a restaurant in the Allan Chapman Student Union at the University of Tulsa sent coworkers a photo of himself holding a rifle, threatening to come to the Student Union and harm staff. The university evacuated the ACSU and sent a text alert at 4:07 PM CST. Tulsa World reported that two 19-year-olds — Michael Johnson and Marshon Duckett — were arrested at their home, where police seized two AR-15 rifles, a Glock 23 handgun, and a high-capacity drum magazine. KJRH provided additional Tulsa-market coverage. No shots were fired and no injuries occurred, but the seized arsenal indicated the suspects had the capability to carry out a mass attack.
Analysis

Key Findings

The seized weapons — two AR-15s, a Glock, and a drum magazine — indicated genuine capability and intent, making this a prevented mass shooting scenario
The threat came from a non-student employee of an on-campus restaurant, highlighting security considerations for third-party vendors
The photo-with-rifle threat delivery method via coworker text messages represents a modern threat vector
Outcome
Michael Johnson and Marshon Duckett, both 19, were arrested at their home. Police seized two AR-15 rifles, a Glock 23 handgun, and a high-capacity drum magazine. No shots were fired and no one was injured.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Two teens in custody after potential threat at TU Student Union (Fox23)
    fox23.com
  2. News
    Possible threat forces evacuation at TU Student Union (News9)
    news9.com
  3. News
    Police arrest two in connection to TU campus threat (Tulsa World)
    tulsaworld.com
  4. News
    Threats made at University of Tulsa (KJRH)
    kjrh.com
Tags
threat-of-violenceemployee-threatstudent-unionoklahomaar-15weapons-seizedprevented-attackphoto-threatprivate-university
Added April 2026Updated April 2026Via ingestion