{
  "id": "2015-08-27-mississippi-state-maroon-alert-lockdown",
  "slug": "mississippi-state-maroon-alert-lockdown-2015-08-27",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Mississippi State University",
    "shortName": "MSU",
    "state": "MS",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "Maroon Alert",
    "enrollment": 22000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2015-08-27",
    "type": "threat-of-violence",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "Phoned-in threat prompts active-shooter alert; student detained, no weapon found",
    "headlinePublic": "Phoned-in threat prompts active-shooter alert; student detained, no weapon found",
    "summary": "On the morning of August 27, 2015, [Mississippi State University was placed on lockdown](https://whnt.com/news/mississippi-state-campus-on-lockdown-after-reports-of-active-shooter/) after MSU Police received a relayed call at approximately 10:10 a.m. CDT from the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol about a 'credible threat' from a freshman student claiming he was on campus and intending suicide and homicide. The Maroon Alert went out at approximately 10:16 a.m. CDT naming Carpenter Hall as the suspect's last known location. The freshman was taken into custody at 10:26 a.m. CDT near McCool Hall. [No gun was recovered and no shots were ever fired](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mississippi-state-university-shooter-campus/).",
    "outcome": "Lockdown lifted at approximately 1:00 p.m. CDT on August 27, 2015, with classes and normal operations resuming at 2 p.m. CDT. The suspect, a Mississippi State freshman, was taken into custody at 10:26 a.m. CDT near McCool Hall, about ten minutes after the Maroon Alert went out. No weapon was found. No shots were fired. No injuries. The student was expected to face mental-health evaluation; charges were not immediately publicly announced.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2015-08-27T10:16:00-05:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.scrippsnews.com/us-news/active-shooter-alert-prompts-lockdown-at-mississippi-state",
      "sourceDescription": "Scripps News, direct quote of the Maroon Alert SMS as received by students",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 1:00 p.m. CDT on August 27, 2015",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "We as issuing an all clear. Classes and normal campus operations will resume at 2pm.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.wtvr.com/2015/08/27/mississippi-state-campus-on-lockdown-after-reports-of-active-shooter",
      "sourceDescription": "WTVR reporting that quotes the verbatim Maroon Alert all-clear SMS, including the original 'We as issuing' typo",
      "annotations": [
        "Preserves the original 'We as issuing' typo (likely 'We are issuing') exactly as sent, a signature authenticity marker",
        "Resumption time of '2pm' is operationally specific rather than the vague 'shortly' or 'later today' often seen in college all-clears",
        "The 84-character all-clear follows the same compact form as the initial Maroon Alert, staying within SMS character limits",
        "No mention of counseling services in the actual SMS, that messaging came in subsequent president and dean follow-ups, not the Maroon Alert itself"
      ],
      "characterCount": 84
    }
  ],
  "context": "[Mississippi State University](https://www.msstate.edu/) is a public R1 research university in Starkville with roughly 22,000 students, the state's largest university. On the morning of August 27, 2015, [the Mississippi State University Police Department received a relayed call](https://whnt.com/news/mississippi-state-campus-on-lockdown-after-reports-of-active-shooter/) at approximately 10:10 a.m. CDT from the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol about a 'credible threat', a freshman student claiming he was on the Starkville campus, threatening 'suicide and homicide.' At approximately 10:16 a.m. CDT, MSU issued a [Maroon Alert SMS](https://www.scrippsnews.com/us-news/active-shooter-alert-prompts-lockdown-at-mississippi-state) reading 'Active shooter reported at Carpenter hall. Last seen in vicinity of Lee hall. Seek Safety immediately' (lowercase 'hall' typos preserved as sent). Approximately ten minutes later, at 10:26 a.m. CDT, [the suspect, a freshman student, was taken into custody near McCool Hall](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mississippi-state-university-shooter-campus/); no weapon was recovered and no shots had been fired. State troopers said publicly: 'No gunman at Mississippi State.' The case is significant for the archive because (a) the verbatim 101-character Maroon Alert text remains a paradigm of post-Virginia Tech minimalist alerting (building names, action verb, no padding) and (b) it shows how a relayed call (MHSP to MSU PD to MSU community) can compress a credibility chain to a few minutes and produce an 'active shooter' designation that was later rolled back when no weapon was found. The incident also predates the [later Maroon Alert tests in July 2024](https://www.msstate.edu/events/2024/07/maroon-alerts-decoded-what-should-you-do) that institutionalized broader student training on how to respond to MSU alert language.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The Maroon Alert SMS was 101 characters, a lean, post-Virginia Tech paradigm of alerting that named two buildings (Carpenter Hall, Lee Hall) and gave one action verb",
    "The lowercase 'hall' typos in 'Carpenter hall' and 'Lee hall' were never corrected, preserved here as authentic to the original message",
    "MSU classified the threat as 'active shooter' based on a relayed call from the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol, even though no weapon was ever recovered and no shots were fired",
    "The suspect, a freshman student, was apprehended near McCool Hall at 10:26 a.m. CDT on August 27, 2015, about ten minutes after the alert went out",
    "The lockdown was lifted at approximately 1:00 p.m. CDT on August 27, 2015, with classes resuming at 2 p.m. CDT, a roughly three-hour total disruption"
  ],
  "responseTimeMinutes": 6,
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "MSU placed on lockdown after student reportedly made violent threats — Action News 5",
      "url": "https://www.actionnews5.com/story/29893102/active-shooter-on-mississippi-state-university-campus/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Mississippi State: Student made threats that led to alert — CBS News",
      "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mississippi-state-university-shooter-campus/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Active Shooter Alert Prompts Lockdown At Mississippi State (VIDEO) — Scripps News",
      "url": "https://www.scrippsnews.com/us-news/active-shooter-alert-prompts-lockdown-at-mississippi-state",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Student who made threat at Mississippi State in custody, no shots ever fired — WHNT",
      "url": "https://whnt.com/news/mississippi-state-campus-on-lockdown-after-reports-of-active-shooter/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "MSU Students Safe After 'Active Shooter' Alert — Mississippi Public Broadcasting",
      "url": "https://www.mpbonline.org/blogs/news/msu-students-safe-after-active-shooter-alert/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "The Maroon Alert System — Mississippi State Emergency Information",
      "url": "https://www.emergency.msstate.edu/maroon-alert",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "WTVR reporting that quotes the verbatim Maroon Alert all-clear SMS, including the original 'We as issuing' typo",
      "url": "https://www.wtvr.com/2015/08/27/mississippi-state-campus-on-lockdown-after-reports-of-active-shooter",
      "type": "other"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "threat-of-violence",
    "deep-south",
    "mississippi",
    "mississippi-state",
    "maroon-alert",
    "lockdown",
    "starkville",
    "carpenter-hall",
    "verbatim-confirmed",
    "active-shooter-alert",
    "no-weapon-found"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-03",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-20",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}