{
  "id": "2013-11-04-central-connecticut-state-university-costume-lockdown",
  "slug": "central-connecticut-state-university-costume-lockdown-2013-11-04",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Central Connecticut State University",
    "shortName": "CCSU",
    "state": "CT",
    "type": "public-masters",
    "alertSystemName": "CCSU Alert",
    "enrollment": 11000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2013-11-04",
    "type": "armed-person",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "Report of an armed person traced to a student in a Halloween costume; three-hour lockdown",
    "headlinePublic": "Report of an armed person traced to a student in a Halloween costume; three-hour lockdown",
    "summary": "Around noon on November 4, 2013, 911 callers reported a suspicious, seemingly armed person on the Central Connecticut State University campus in New Britain, triggering [a roughly three-hour lockdown](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ccsu-lockdown-professors-son-arrested-charged-with-breach-of-peace/). A witness described a man in camouflage pants, knee pads, a body-armor vest, and a paintball mask with a katana strapped to his back. The 'armed person' turned out to be [21-year-old senior David Kyem in a Halloween ninja costume](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/campus-emergency-issued-at-central-connecticut-state-university/); no shots were fired and no firearm was recovered.",
    "outcome": "Police found no real threat: no shots were fired and no firearm was recovered. David Kyem, 21, son of a CCSU professor, was arrested and charged with breach of peace. Two nearby New Britain schools were also briefly locked down as a precaution.",
    "resolution": "unfounded",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Around noon EST on November 4, 2013",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/campus-emergency-issued-at-central-connecticut-state-university/",
      "sourceDescription": "CBS New York, quoting the official CCSU Twitter (X) emergency message",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestampApprox": "Early afternoon on November 4, 2013, during the lockdown",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "#CCSU police is on the scene. Please stay indoors and away from windows.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/CCSU/status/397414000654184449",
      "sourceDescription": "Official Central Connecticut State University Twitter (X) post during the November 4, 2013 lockdown",
      "annotations": [
        "Posted from the verified CCSU X account during the active search of campus",
        "Reiterates the 'stay indoors and away from windows' shelter posture while confirming police presence on scene",
        "Hashtag-prefixed ('#CCSU') for discoverability, reflects the 2013-era practice of routing campus emergency updates through public Twitter rather than a closed SMS-only channel"
      ],
      "characterCount": 72
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Mid-afternoon on November 4, 2013, after a roughly three-hour lockdown",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "The sounds that you just heard was campus police indicating that the campus is ALL CLEAR #ccsu. You may now leave the buildings.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://ctmirror.org/2013/11/04/ccsu-campus-lockdown-ends-3-custody/",
      "sourceDescription": "CT Mirror, quoting the official CCSU Twitter (X) all-clear message",
      "annotations": [
        "The verbatim all-clear posted to the official CCSU Twitter (X) account after the roughly three-hour lockdown ended with three people taken into custody and no weapon recovered.",
        "References an audible campus-police siren signal ('The sounds that you just heard') rather than relying solely on the text channel, a layered notification used because the lockdown ran across a public, outdoor campus.",
        "This is a true all-clear: it explicitly lifts the shelter order ('You may now leave the buildings'), distinguishing it from the shelter directives in the earlier alerts."
      ],
      "characterCount": 128
    }
  ],
  "context": "Around noon on November 4, 2013, 911 callers reported a seemingly armed, suspicious person at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, prompting [a roughly three-hour campus lockdown](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ccsu-lockdown-professors-son-arrested-charged-with-breach-of-peace/). [A witness described](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/campus-emergency-issued-at-central-connecticut-state-university/) a man in camouflage pants, knee pads, a body-armor vest, and a paintball mask with a katana strapped to his back. Police identified him as 21-year-old senior David Kyem, son of a CCSU professor; his father told WFSB the son had attended a multi-day party at UConn and returned to campus still in his Halloween ninja costume. [CCSU issued a campus alert telling people to seek shelter](https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/CCUS-Issued-Campus-Alert-to-Seek-Shelter-230514801.html), and two nearby New Britain schools locked down as a precaution. No shots were fired and no firearm was recovered; Kyem was charged with breach of peace. The case is an early, vivid example of the 'costume-as-weapon-report' pattern that recurs across the archive, and it shows how a regional Connecticut public's emergency-notification system handled a sustained, ultimately unfounded armed-person scare without injury.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "A report of a seemingly armed person around noon on November 4, 2013 put CCSU in a roughly three-hour lockdown",
    "The 'armed person' was a 21-year-old student wearing a Halloween ninja costume with a katana, body armor, and a paintball mask",
    "No shots were fired and no firearm was recovered; the student was charged with breach of peace",
    "Two nearby New Britain schools also locked down as a precaution, showing how a campus scare can ripple into surrounding K-12 districts"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "CCSU Lockdown: Professor's son arrested, charged with breach of peace - CBS News",
      "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ccsu-lockdown-professors-son-arrested-charged-with-breach-of-peace/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Student Charged In CCSU Gun Scare That Prompted Lockdown - CBS New York",
      "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/campus-emergency-issued-at-central-connecticut-state-university/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "CCSU Issued Campus Alert to Seek Shelter / CCSU Suspect Arrested a Second Time - NBC Connecticut",
      "url": "https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/CCUS-Issued-Campus-Alert-to-Seek-Shelter-230514801.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "CCSU campus lockdown ends with 3 in custody - The Connecticut Mirror",
      "url": "https://ctmirror.org/2013/11/04/ccsu-campus-lockdown-ends-3-custody/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Official Central Connecticut State University Twitter (X) post during the November 4, 2013 lockdown",
      "url": "https://x.com/CCSU/status/397414000654184449",
      "type": "official-archive"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "armed-person",
    "lockdown",
    "connecticut",
    "new-britain",
    "halloween",
    "costume",
    "false-alarm",
    "emergency-notification"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-28",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-20",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}