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Active-shooter alerts issued for an assault that involved a pen, not a gun

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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 July 8, 2024, Winona State University Security in Winona, Minnesota issued the first of several 'active shooter' alerts after receiving word from law enforcement of an armed suspect 'near campus.' The actual incident, a 5:20 PM CDT assault complaint at a business on Junction Street, involved a man who hit a female employee with what turned out to be a pen, not a gun. The 'campus' referenced was WSU's West Campus, a location WSU no longer occupies. The suspect, Stig Ure, 25, was arrested without incident. WSU Director of Security Chris Cichosz publicly apologized and the agencies launched a joint review of the emergency-alert system.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
1
Institution
Winona State University
Public Masters · MN
All WSU cases →
~7,100 studentsWSU Alert
Documented Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Some messages in this sequence are documented (their existence, timing, and channel are sourced) but their exact wording is not preserved in the public record. Those entries appear as placeholders; only confirmed text is displayed.

UPDATESMS
Verified verbatimKTTC reproduced the verbatim text of WSU Alert 'Update #2' issued the evening of July 8, 2024115 chars
WSU ALERT: Update #2: Active shooter is reported to be in WEST WINONA. Not on or near WSU campus. RUN, HIDE, FIGHT.
Verbatim WSU Alert 'Update #2' as quoted by KTTC; it still carried the 'active shooter' framing while attempting to relocate the threat to 'WEST WINONA' away from the WSU campus
The repeated 'active shooter' framing across the message series amplified community fear and contributed to confusion documented by Winona Post, KARE 11, and KTTC
Corrected 2026-06-21: the trailing 'RUN, HIDE, FIGHT.' instruction was recovered and confirmed identically across multiple independent secondary sources (KTTC, krocnews/KDHL, Winona Post, Winona Daily News), which all reproduce the same full text
CORRECTIONSMS
Wording not preservedReconstructed from KTTC reporting quoting WSU Director of Security Chris Cichosz that 'the armed suspect was not an active shooter' and that 'campus' referred to a location formerly occupied by WSU
A correction message is documented at this point in the sequence, but its exact wording is not preserved in the public record. The public edition displays only confirmed alert text.
Context

Background

Winona State University is a public master's institution in Winona, Minnesota, with about 7,100 students. On the evening of Monday, July 8, 2024, WSU Security received a report from law enforcement of an 'armed suspect' 'near campus' and issued the first of several active-shooter alerts via the WSU Alert system. What had actually happened: at 5:20 p.m. CDT, Winona Police responded to an assault complaint at a business on Junction Street, where a man had reportedly hit a female employee repeatedly on the back of the neck; Stig Ure, 25, was arrested and charged with assault. The 'weapon' was a black and silver pen. The 'campus' was WSU's West Campus, a location WSU had vacated. To compound the confusion, Winona County Emergency Management's Facebook page (set up to automatically rebroadcast emergency alerts) mislabeled the WSU shelter-in-place as a weather alert. Ure was arrested without incident and a $500,000 bond was set. WSU Director of Security Chris Cichosz publicly apologized and the agencies launched a joint review. The incident has become a small but instructive case study in how a single inaccurate descriptor ('armed') can cascade into a city-wide false 'active shooter' alert.
Analysis

Key Findings

A single inaccurate descriptor ('armed') from a third-party law-enforcement report cascaded into multiple active-shooter alerts in a city where the actual weapon was a pen
The 'campus' referenced in the alerts was WSU's West Campus, a property the university no longer occupied, an indication of stale geographic data in the alert template
Winona County Emergency Management's automated Facebook rebroadcaster mislabeled the WSU alert as a weather alert, an automation failure layered on top of the human-language failure
WSU Director of Security Chris Cichosz issued a rare public apology, and a joint agency review of alert protocols was launched, an unusual after-action step for a non-fatal incident
WSU publicly walked back the active-shooter classification, an explicit retraction that is rare in documented campus alerting
Outcome
Suspect Stig Ure, 25, was arrested without incident and charged with assault; $500,000 bond set. No injuries from the active-shooter alert itself, but community confusion and fear documented by local media. WSU and Winona County Emergency Management launched a joint review of alert-system protocols.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Agencies review emergency alerts after confusion (Winona Post)
    winonapost.com
    archived copy
  2. News
    Police: Alert about active shooter was mistakenly sent to some Winona residents (KARE 11)
    kare11.com
    archived copy
  3. News
    Winona authorities and WSU take closer look at emergency alert systems after incorrect alerts sent (KTTC)
    kttc.com
    archived copy
  4. News
    $500K bond set for man charged with assault in Winona that led to shelter-in-place order (Winona Daily News)
    winonadailynews.com
    archived copy
  5. News
    Assault Triggers False Active Shooter Alert in Winona (Y105 FM)
    y105fm.com
    archived copy
  6. Official
    WSU Alert System FAQs (Winona State University)
    winona.edu
    archived copy
Cite this case

Campus Alert Archive. "Winona State University: Active-shooter alerts issued for an assault that involved a pen, not a gun." Incident of July 8, 2024. Added May 2026; last updated July 2026. https://campusalertarchive.com/case/winona-state-university-false-active-shooter-alert-2024-07-08/

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Alert text quoted on this page remains the work of the issuing institution; the archive is a secondary source.

Tags
false-alertcorrectionactive-shooter-alertminnesotawinona-statepublic-mastersalert-system-failurediversity-prioritysmall-state-campusUnfounded
Added May 2026Updated July 2026Via ingestion