Campus Alert Archive
UTRGV

Two Armed Subjects Fleeing a Kidnapping Call Put the Edinburg Campus Under a Sunday-Morning Shelter

TXshelter in placeemergency notificationhigh confidence
Confirmed Threat

Before dawn on Sunday, April 7, 2024, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley ordered its Edinburg campus to shelter in place after Edinburg police responded to an aggravated kidnapping call and two armed subjects were reported fleeing toward campus. UTRGV Police initiated the shelter-in-place at about 6:02 a.m. CDT and sent reinforcing messages over the next hour. The all-clear came around 7:40 a.m. CDT after both subjects were apprehended.

Alerts
2
Response
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Killed
—
Injured
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Institution
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Public R2 · TX
UTRGV Emergency Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 1 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 verbatimUTRGV Ready UTRGV official alerts archive — verbatim text of the April 7, 2024 Emergency Alert Notification reproduced from the official utrgv.edu/readyutrgv/alerts/2024 page290 chars
There will be a heavy police presence at Edinburg Campus. Edinburg police Department is currently looking for Armed Subjects from an incident that occurred near the campus. Please stay away from the area and shelter in place. You will receive an updated notification when the area is clear.
Initiated at approximately 6:02 a.m. CDT on Sunday, April 7, 2024, after Edinburg PD responded to an aggravated kidnapping call near campus and two armed subjects were reported fleeing southward.
The alert preserves a notable capitalization inconsistency: 'Edinburg police Department' (lowercase 'police', uppercase 'Department') — a real-time typing artifact preserved verbatim from the official archive.
Three reinforcement messages followed over the next hour; the all-clear came at approximately 7:40 a.m. CDT once both subjects were apprehended by Edinburg PD.
ALL CLEARSMS+1h 38m
Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from ValleyCentral; references UTRGV 2024 alert archive page161 chars
UTRGV Emergency Alert: All clear. The shelter in place for the Edinburg Campus has been lifted. The subjects have been apprehended. Normal activities may resume.

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

Issued at approximately 7:40 a.m. CDT after Edinburg PD apprehended both subjects, making this a genuine all-clear that ends the shelter-in-place.
Edinburg police later identified the suspects in connection with an alleged attempted kidnapping near campus, per KRGV.
Context

Background

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is among the largest Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the United States. On Sunday, April 7, 2024, the Edinburg campus was placed under a shelter-in-place after Edinburg police responded to an aggravated kidnapping call around 5:30 a.m. CDT at the 1400 block of Prosperity Street, with two armed subjects reported fleeing toward campus. UTRGV Police issued the shelter-in-place at about 6:02 a.m. CDT, sent reinforcing messages, and lifted it around 7:40 a.m. CDT once both subjects were in custody. The incident is logged on UTRGV's Ready UTRGV alerts archive and reflects the off-campus crime spillover risk facing a commuter-heavy HSI whose campuses sit within dense Rio Grande Valley neighborhoods.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Edinburg police identify armed suspects in alleged attempted kidnapping near UTRGV - KRGV
    krgv.com
  2. Official
    UTRGV Alerts 2024
    utrgv.edu
  3. News
    Possible armed intruder prompts shelter-in-place near UTRGV - ValleyCentral
    valleycentral.com
Tags
shelter-in-placearmed-personkidnappinghispanic-serving-institutionhsitexasrio-grande-valleyedinburgemergency-notification
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion