{
  "id": "2018-03-02-central-michigan-university-shooting",
  "slug": "central-michigan-university-shooting-2018-03-02",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Central Michigan University",
    "shortName": "CMU",
    "state": "MI",
    "type": "public-r2",
    "alertSystemName": "Central Alert",
    "enrollment": 20000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2018-03-02",
    "type": "shooting",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "headline": "Student fatally shoots his parents in a residence hall; suspect captured after 16 hours",
    "headlinePublic": "Student fatally shoots his parents in a residence hall; suspect captured after 16 hours",
    "summary": "On the morning of March 2, 2018, 19-year-old James Eric Davis Jr. [fatally shot both of his parents](https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/03/us/central-michigan-university-shooting/index.html) on the fourth floor of Campbell Hall at Central Michigan University. His parents had come to pick him up for spring break after he had been hospitalized the previous day for erratic behavior. The suspect [fled and was not captured until nearly 16 hours later](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/02/590239044/central-michigan-university-on-lockdown-after-shooting-at-dorm-kills-2) near train tracks on the edge of campus.",
    "outcome": "James Eric Davis Sr., 48, a part-time police officer in Bellwood, Illinois, and Diva Jeneen Davis, 47, were both killed. The suspect was arrested without incident early Saturday morning. In January 2019, a judge found Davis was legally insane at the time of the killings; rather than standing trial, he was committed indefinitely to Michigan's Center for Forensic Psychiatry.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 2,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 9:30 AM EST on March 2, 2018, roughly one hour after the 8:30 AM shooting",
      "channel": "official-social",
      "verbatimText": "There has been a report of shots fired at Campbell Hall on campus. Suspect is still at large, police advise all to take shelter. If you see something suspicious, call 911.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/cmich/posts/there-has-been-a-report-of-shots-fired-at-campbell-hall-on-campus-suspect-is-sti/10156082561537866/",
      "sourceDescription": "Central Michigan University official Facebook post (March 2, 2018), corroborated by the CBS News live blog",
      "annotations": [
        "Posted to Central Michigan University's official Facebook page (@cmich) at approximately 9:30 AM EST on March 2, 2018; the university also sent an automated phone message to students through its emergency notification system",
        "The shooting occurred on the 4th floor of Campbell Hall, a student residence hall, at approximately 8:30 AM EST",
        "The shooter, James Eric Davis Jr., remained 'at large' for nearly 16 hours after this message until his arrest near train tracks early March 3, 2018",
        "The university, along with Mount Pleasant schools, city buildings, and McLaren Central Michigan Hospital, were all placed on lockdown",
        "The message instructs 'take shelter' rather than naming a specific suspect description, the detailed suspect description came in later police releases"
      ],
      "characterCount": 171
    }
  ],
  "context": "On the morning of March 2, 2018, 19-year-old student James Eric Davis Jr. [fatally shot both of his parents](https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/03/us/central-michigan-university-shooting/index.html) on the fourth floor of Campbell Hall, a residence hall at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. His father, James Eric Davis Sr., 48, was a part-time police officer with the Bellwood Police Department in Illinois, and his mother, Diva Jeneen Davis, 47, had come to pick up their son for spring break. The previous day, Davis Jr. had been [hospitalized for erratic behavior](https://abcnews.go.com/US/police-officer-wife-shot-dead-central-michigan-university/story?id=53463323) and was released back to his parents. After the shooting, the suspect used his father's registered gun and fled on foot, triggering a campus-wide lockdown that extended to local schools, city buildings, and the nearby hospital. The [manhunt lasted nearly 16 hours](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/central-michigan-university-shooting-leaves-two-wounded-gunman-loose-n852611) before Davis was spotted near train tracks on the north edge of campus early Saturday morning and arrested without incident. The case drew attention to the [university's emergency communications response](https://www.case.org/awards/circle-excellence/2019/shots-fired-response-central-michigan-universitys-march-2018-campus), which won a CASE Circle of Excellence Award for its handling of the crisis.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The suspect had been hospitalized for erratic behavior the day before and was released to his parents, raising questions about mental health crisis intervention",
    "The 16-hour manhunt required sustained shelter-in-place messaging and coordination across the campus and surrounding community",
    "CMU's communications team later won a CASE Circle of Excellence Award for its crisis response"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Central Michigan student used father's gun to kill his parents (CNN)",
      "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/03/us/central-michigan-university-shooting/index.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Suspect In Custody After Deadly Shooting At Central Michigan University (NPR)",
      "url": "https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/02/590239044/central-michigan-university-on-lockdown-after-shooting-at-dorm-kills-2",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Student in custody after allegedly shooting parents at CMU dorm (ABC News)",
      "url": "https://abcnews.go.com/US/police-officer-wife-shot-dead-central-michigan-university/story?id=53463323",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Student sought in killing of parents at CMU in custody (NBC News)",
      "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/central-michigan-university-shooting-leaves-two-wounded-gunman-loose-n852611",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Shots Fired: Response to CMU's March 2018 Campus Shooting (CASE Awards)",
      "url": "https://www.case.org/awards/circle-excellence/2019/shots-fired-response-central-michigan-universitys-march-2018-campus",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "CMU Shooting: James Eric Davis Jr. Case (CM-Life Student Newspaper)",
      "url": "https://www.cm-life.com/section/march-2-shooting",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "Central Michigan University official Facebook post (March 2, 2018), corroborated by the CBS News live blog",
      "url": "https://www.facebook.com/cmich/posts/there-has-been-a-report-of-shots-fired-at-campbell-hall-on-campus-suspect-is-sti/10156082561537866/",
      "type": "official-archive"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "shooting",
    "domestic-violence",
    "manhunt",
    "michigan",
    "public-r2",
    "mental-health",
    "residence-hall"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-04-04",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}