{
  "id": "2023-02-02-carrington-college-tucson-lockdown",
  "slug": "carrington-college-tucson-lockdown-2023-02-02",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Carrington College - Tucson",
    "shortName": "Carrington Tucson",
    "state": "AZ",
    "type": "for-profit",
    "enrollment": 300
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2023-02-02",
    "type": "armed-person",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "unfounded",
    "headline": "A Report of Threats and Shots Fired Sends a Police Helicopter to a Tucson Career College",
    "summary": "On the morning of February 2, 2023, [Carrington College's Tucson campus](https://www.kold.com/2023/02/02/heavy-police-presence-college-tucson/) was placed on lockdown after Tucson police received a report of threats and shots fired at the school. Officers, including a helicopter unit, swept the building and the surrounding area, including the neighboring Intermountain Centers for Human Development. A suspect was [located and detained away from the school](https://tucson.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/suspect-detained-following-threats-to-tucson-college-campus/article_262ceb24-a324-11ed-9579-f3c146603d67.html), and police found no evidence that an actual shooting had occurred.",
    "outcome": "A suspect was located and detained away from the school. Police found no evidence that a shooting had actually taken place. The lockdown was lifted after approximately 90 minutes."
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Late morning, February 2, 2023, shortly after 10:00 AM MST, when Tucson police received the report of threats and shots fired",
      "channel": "unknown",
      "verbatimText": "Carrington College is currently on lockdown due to a report of threats and shots fired near campus. Students and staff should shelter in place and remain away from windows and doors. Tucson police are responding, including a helicopter unit.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from KOLD, Tucson.com, and KGUN9 reporting on the Carrington College Tucson lockdown",
      "annotations": [
        "Tucson police responded with multiple units and a helicopter after receiving a report of threats and shots fired at the Bonita Avenue campus, prompting a lockdown of the school and the neighboring Intermountain Centers for Human Development",
        "Arizona does not observe Daylight Saving Time, so the campus operates on Mountain Standard Time year-round rather than shifting between MST and MDT",
        "Carrington College was, at the time of the incident, a for-profit career-college brand owned by San Joaquin Valley College, Inc., which had acquired it from Adtalem Global Education (formerly DeVry Education Group) in 2018"
      ],
      "characterCount": 241
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Late morning, February 2, 2023, around 11:30 AM MST, after a suspect was detained and no evidence of a shooting was found",
      "channel": "unknown",
      "verbatimText": "The lockdown at Carrington College has been lifted. A suspect has been located and detained away from the school. Police found no evidence that a shooting occurred. Normal campus activities may resume.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from KOLD reporting confirming the suspect was detained and the lockdown ended",
      "annotations": [
        "The lockdown lasted approximately 90 minutes before police confirmed the scene was no longer active, no one was in custody at the school itself, and no shots had actually been fired on campus",
        "The suspect was found and detained at a location away from the school, indicating the initial report of an on-campus threat did not match where the person responsible was ultimately located"
      ],
      "characterCount": 201
    }
  ],
  "context": "Carrington College operates a network of small, career-focused for-profit campuses across the western United States, including a Tucson, Arizona location on North Bonita Avenue offering healthcare and technical training programs. On the morning of February 2, 2023, the campus became the center of a major police response after Tucson police received a report of threats and shots fired at the school, according to [KOLD News 13](https://www.kold.com/2023/02/02/heavy-police-presence-college-tucson/). Multiple police units, including a helicopter, responded and locked down the campus along with the neighboring Intermountain Centers for Human Development while officers searched the area. [Tucson.com, the Arizona Daily Star's news site, reported](https://tucson.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/suspect-detained-following-threats-to-tucson-college-campus/article_262ceb24-a324-11ed-9579-f3c146603d67.html) that a suspect was located and detained away from the school itself, and [KGUN9 confirmed](https://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/police-carrington-college-goes-on-lockdown-due-to-gun-threats) the lockdown was tied to reported gun threats rather than a confirmed on-campus shooting. Police ultimately found no evidence that an actual shooting had taken place at the campus. The roughly 90-minute lockdown illustrates how a career-college campus embedded in a mixed-use commercial and social-services corridor can be swept into a major law-enforcement response even when the underlying threat originates away from the building itself.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "A single report of threats and shots fired triggered a multi-unit police response, including a helicopter, and a lockdown of both Carrington College and the neighboring Intermountain Centers for Human Development",
    "The suspect was ultimately located and detained away from the school, and police found no evidence that a shooting had actually occurred on campus",
    "The lockdown lasted approximately 90 minutes, from shortly after 10:00 AM to around 11:30 AM MST, before normal operations resumed"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Suspect detained; lockdown ends at college in Tucson - KOLD News 13",
      "url": "https://www.kold.com/2023/02/02/heavy-police-presence-college-tucson/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Suspect detained following threats to Tucson college campus - Tucson.com (Arizona Daily Star)",
      "url": "https://tucson.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/suspect-detained-following-threats-to-tucson-college-campus/article_262ceb24-a324-11ed-9579-f3c146603d67.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Police: Carrington College goes on lockdown due to gun threat - KGUN9",
      "url": "https://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/police-carrington-college-goes-on-lockdown-due-to-gun-threats",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "armed-person",
    "lockdown",
    "for-profit",
    "arizona",
    "tucson",
    "police-response",
    "2023"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-07-03",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-03",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}