{
  "id": "2024-04-28-cu-boulder-williams-village-shots-fired",
  "slug": "cu-boulder-williams-village-shots-fired-2024-04-28",
  "institution": {
    "name": "University of Colorado Boulder",
    "shortName": "CU Boulder",
    "state": "CO",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "CU Boulder Alerts",
    "alertPlatform": "Rave",
    "enrollment": 38000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2024-04-28",
    "type": "shooting",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "headline": "Reported gunfire at a residence hall complex; four non-affiliates later charged",
    "headlinePublic": "Reported gunfire at a residence hall complex; four non-affiliates later charged",
    "summary": "In the early morning of April 28, 2024, [reports of shots fired at the Williams Village residence hall complex](https://alerts.colorado.edu/2024/04/28/reports-shots-fired-williams-village) prompted a 4:24 AM MDT CU Boulder Alert ordering people in the south-of-campus housing complex to shelter in place. [Four suspects, none affiliated with CU Boulder, were later charged](https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/university-colorado-investigators-clues-swatting-boulder-campus/), three of them juveniles. The incident occurred during the final week of spring classes (known on campus as Dead Week) in a complex housing roughly 2,000 students.",
    "outcome": "No injuries were reported on campus. CU Boulder Police Department, with assistance from Boulder Police, cleared Williams Village by early evening. Four suspects were later charged in connection with the gunfire; three were juveniles, and none were CU Boulder students."
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2024-04-28T04:24:00-06:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "Reports of shots fired in the area of Will Villl. Police are responding. Shelter in place and avoid the area.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.cuindependent.com/2024/04/28/cupd-investigating-shots-fired-no-threat-to-campus/",
      "sourceDescription": "CU Independent student newspaper, verbatim CU Boulder Alert text quoted in the April 28, 2024 article, including the original triple-l typo 'Will Villl'",
      "annotations": [
        "Sent at 4:24 AM MDT on April 28, 2024, the triple-l typo ('Will Villl') appears in the original alert as quoted by the CU Independent; typos are preserved per archive policy",
        "Williams Village (often shortened to 'Will Vill') is the university's largest residence hall complex, located approximately one mile south of the main campus on Baseline Road, housing roughly 2,000 students primarily first-years",
        "The alert does not explicitly separate Will Vill residents from the main campus, it instructs everyone to 'shelter in place and avoid the area' without a bifurcated instruction"
      ],
      "characterCount": 109
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 5:30 AM MDT on April 28, 2024, roughly an hour after the initial 4:24 AM MDT alert",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "Suspects have been identified and are in custody. Shelter in place has been lifted. There is no threat to campus.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.cuindependent.com/2024/04/28/cupd-investigating-shots-fired-no-threat-to-campus/",
      "sourceDescription": "CU Independent student newspaper, verbatim CU Boulder Alert all-clear text quoted in the April 28, 2024 article",
      "annotations": [
        "Sent approximately one hour after the initial alert, after CUPD and Boulder Police identified and apprehended four suspects, three of them juveniles",
        "The weapon was later determined to be an air pistol that fires BBs and makes sounds similar to gunshots, confirming no actual firearm was discharged",
        "The 'no threat to campus' close is CU Boulder's standard all-clear template phrasing"
      ],
      "characterCount": 113
    }
  ],
  "context": "Williams Village is the [University of Colorado Boulder's southern residential complex](https://alerts.colorado.edu/2024/04/28/reports-shots-fired-williams-village), a cluster of high-rise dorms separated from the main campus by Baseline Road and a city bus shuttle. It houses primarily first-year students and is geographically isolated enough that incidents there often require their own shelter-in-place instructions, separate from the main campus. In the early morning of Sunday, April 28, 2024, at the start of the final week of spring classes, gunfire was reported in the Will Vill area, prompting CU Boulder's Rave-powered alert system to push notifications to students across the system at 4:24 AM MDT. CUPD and [Boulder Police responded and ultimately charged four suspects, three of them juveniles](https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/university-colorado-investigators-clues-swatting-boulder-campus/), none of whom were affiliated with the university. The incident involved suspects physically on scene (CUPD later determined the weapon was an air pistol that fires BBs and makes sounds similar to gunshots), distinct from the wave of [active-shooter swatting hoaxes that hit CU Boulder in August 2025](https://www.colorado.edu/today/2025/08/25/cu-boulder-investigating-hoax-after-report-shots-fired).",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The alert instructed recipients to 'shelter in place and avoid the area' without separating Williams Village residents from the rest of campus",
    "Four suspects were charged, three of them juveniles; none were CU Boulder students",
    "The April 2024 incident preceded the August 2025 swatting wave at CU Boulder; unlike those hoaxes, this incident involved suspects on scene, and the weapon was later determined to be an air pistol",
    "The initial alert went out at 4:24 AM MDT and the shelter-in-place was lifted roughly an hour later once the suspects were in custody"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Reports of Shots Fired at Williams Village (CU Boulder Alerts)",
      "url": "https://alerts.colorado.edu/2024/04/28/reports-shots-fired-williams-village",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "CUPD investigating shots fired, no threat to campus (CU Independent)",
      "url": "https://www.cuindependent.com/2024/04/28/cupd-investigating-shots-fired-no-threat-to-campus/",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "Latest Alerts (CU Boulder Alerts)",
      "url": "https://alerts.colorado.edu/latest-alerts",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "University of Colorado investigators have clues about the swatting calls made at Boulder campus (CBS Colorado)",
      "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/university-colorado-investigators-clues-swatting-boulder-campus/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "CU Boulder investigating hoax after report of shots fired (CU Boulder Today)",
      "url": "https://www.colorado.edu/today/2025/08/25/cu-boulder-investigating-hoax-after-report-shots-fired",
      "type": "official-archive"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "shooting",
    "cu-boulder",
    "colorado",
    "williams-village",
    "residence-hall",
    "shelter-in-place",
    "rave-alert",
    "public-r1",
    "non-affiliated-suspects",
    "dead-week"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-03",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}