{
  "id": "2024-11-07-cleveland-state-community-college-dating-violence-lockdown",
  "slug": "cleveland-state-community-college-dating-violence-lockdown-2024-11-07",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Cleveland State Community College",
    "shortName": "CSCC",
    "state": "TN",
    "type": "community-college",
    "alertSystemName": "myCS Alerts (Rave)",
    "enrollment": 3280
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2024-11-07",
    "type": "dating-violence",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "headline": "A student's boyfriend threatens by text to harm her and her classmates",
    "headlinePublic": "A student's boyfriend threatens by text to harm her and her classmates",
    "summary": "On the morning of November 7, 2024, a Cleveland State Community College student in class [received threatening text messages from her boyfriend](https://newschannel9.com/news/local/cleveland-state-community-college-locked-down-after-threat-of-domestic-violence), a Hamilton County corrections deputy, stating he intended to come to the school to harm her and other students. The college [locked down the main campus and adopted its active-shooter protocol](https://www.chattanoogan.com/2024/11/7/495158/Cleveland-State-Campus-Put-On-Lockdown.aspx) while local police tracked down and arrested him at his apartment.",
    "outcome": "Eric James Nerison, 26, of Collegedale, a Hamilton County corrections deputy who was not a CSCC student or employee, was located intoxicated and armed at his apartment, threatening to harm himself and others. He was arrested, charged with domestic assault and false imprisonment, and terminated from the sheriff's office just thirteen weeks into a six-month probationary period.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Thursday morning, November 7, 2024",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "A Cleveland State student in class on the Cleveland campus has received a credible threat of domestic violence. In an abundance of caution, we have locked down the campus, and we are adopting the active shooter protocol.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.chattanoogan.com/2024/11/7/495158/Cleveland-State-Campus-Put-On-Lockdown.aspx",
      "sourceDescription": "Cleveland State Community College email to the campus community, quoted verbatim by Chattanoogan.com",
      "annotations": [
        "The student reported receiving threatening texts from her boyfriend, Eric James Nerison, while she was in class; the messages said he intended to come to the school and harm her and other students",
        "The college escalated to its active-shooter protocol out of caution even though the threat was directed at a specific person rather than the student body generally",
        "Nerison was a Hamilton County corrections deputy who had joined the sheriff's office roughly thirteen weeks earlier and was not affiliated with the college"
      ],
      "characterCount": 220
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestamp": "2024-11-07T12:30:00-05:00",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "Local law enforcement have apprehended the individual who allegedly communicated the threat. Cleveland State Community College main campus has returned to normal operations.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.clevelandbanner.com/news/update-cleveland-state-lifts-main-campus-lockdown/article_d0a9e9e7-9504-5dc5-8caf-8f49facfd3b8.html",
      "sourceDescription": "Cleveland State Community College email to the campus community, quoted verbatim by the Cleveland Daily Banner",
      "annotations": [
        "The lockdown ended at 12:30 PM EST when Collegedale police, alerted by campus officials, took Nerison into custody at his apartment, where he was found intoxicated, armed, and threatening self-harm",
        "The full lockdown, from the initial threat report to the all-clear, lasted several hours"
      ],
      "characterCount": 173
    }
  ],
  "context": "Cleveland State Community College, a two-year public institution in Cleveland, Tennessee, placed its main campus on lockdown and activated active-shooter protocol on November 7, 2024 after a student reported threatening text messages from her boyfriend while she sat in class. According to [Chattanoogan.com](https://www.chattanoogan.com/2024/11/7/495158/Cleveland-State-Campus-Put-On-Lockdown.aspx), the boyfriend, Eric James Nerison, a 26-year-old Hamilton County corrections deputy, sent messages indicating he intended to go to the school to commit violence against the student and other students there. The college sent an email stating it had 'locked down the campus' and was 'adopting the active shooter protocol,' a message the [Cleveland Daily Banner](https://www.clevelandbanner.com/news/update-cleveland-state-lifts-main-campus-lockdown/article_d0a9e9e7-9504-5dc5-8caf-8f49facfd3b8.html) confirmed college officials notified Bradley County law enforcement in response to. Officers from Collegedale, requested to conduct a welfare check at Nerison's apartment, found him intoxicated and armed, threatening to harm himself and others; he was taken into custody and the lockdown was lifted around 12:30 PM EST. Nerison was charged with domestic assault and false imprisonment and, per [Local 3 News](https://www.local3news.com/local-news/update-hcso-employee-fired-after-threats-prompting-cleveland-state-lockdown/article_2b0a1b76-9d28-11ef-8c9f-cbdd0a21daad.html), fired from the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office just thirteen weeks into his six-month probationary period.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The threat originated entirely outside the classroom, over text message from a boyfriend who had no institutional affiliation with the college, showing how a dating-violence threat can force a full-campus emergency response",
    "The college's decision to invoke its active-shooter protocol for a threat aimed at one student and her classmates, rather than treating it purely as an isolated domestic matter, meant the entire campus sheltered for hours",
    "The suspect was a law-enforcement officer himself, a Hamilton County corrections deputy, who was fired from that job as a direct result of the threat"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Report: Former deputy charged in Cleveland State lockdown thought girlfriend was cheating (NewsChannel 9)",
      "url": "https://newschannel9.com/news/local/cleveland-state-community-college-locked-down-after-threat-of-domestic-violence",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Cleveland State Campus Put On Lockdown After Student Receives Threat; Deputy Arrested And Fired (Chattanoogan.com)",
      "url": "https://www.chattanoogan.com/2024/11/7/495158/Cleveland-State-Campus-Put-On-Lockdown.aspx",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "UPDATE: Cleveland State lifts main campus lockdown (Cleveland Daily Banner)",
      "url": "https://www.clevelandbanner.com/news/update-cleveland-state-lifts-main-campus-lockdown/article_d0a9e9e7-9504-5dc5-8caf-8f49facfd3b8.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "UPDATE: HCSO employee fired after threats prompting Cleveland State lockdown (Local 3 News)",
      "url": "https://www.local3news.com/local-news/update-hcso-employee-fired-after-threats-prompting-cleveland-state-lockdown/article_2b0a1b76-9d28-11ef-8c9f-cbdd0a21daad.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "dating-violence",
    "community-college",
    "tennessee",
    "lockdown",
    "active-shooter-protocol",
    "law-enforcement-officer",
    "credible-threat"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-07-20",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-20",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}