{
  "id": "2019-07-11-montana-state-university-employee-threat",
  "slug": "montana-state-university-employee-threat-2019-07-11",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Montana State University",
    "shortName": "MSU",
    "state": "MT",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "MSU Alert",
    "alertPlatform": "Everbridge",
    "enrollment": 16800
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2019-07-11",
    "type": "workplace-violence",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "Employee's reported threats prompt a shelter-in-place; man found unarmed and detained",
    "headlinePublic": "Employee's reported threats prompt a shelter-in-place; man found unarmed and detained",
    "summary": "On July 11, 2019, [Montana State University Police](https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/montana-state-employee-arrested-after-threatening-campus/article_dc7c9815-c4f6-5701-8087-b2c28b2ab959.html) received a report at approximately 12:15 PM MDT that a soon-to-be-terminated MSU employee had told a family member he was 'ready to end it all' with his weapons loaded. MSU Alert issued a [campus-wide shelter-in-place](https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/msu-issues-alert-for-shelter-in-place-status) just before 1:00 PM MDT. The man was located unarmed inside Norm Asbjornson Hall and taken into custody at approximately 2:10 PM MDT; the all-clear followed at 2:15 PM MDT.",
    "outcome": "The employee was taken into custody at approximately 2:10 PM MDT inside Norm Asbjornson Hall, the home of MSU's engineering college, and transported for a mental-health evaluation. He was never criminally charged. Police later confirmed he owned two shotguns and a rifle but had no firearms with him at the time of his arrest.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 12:55 PM MDT on July 11, 2019",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "MSU Alert:  Officers are responding to a situation on the campus. Seek shelter inside a room with locking door. Close blinds and windows.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceDescription": "MSU Police Crime Alerts archive",
      "annotations": [
        "Sent approximately 40 minutes after the initial 12:15 PM MDT report, during which police worked to corroborate the reported threat",
        "The wording avoided naming an active shooter or weapons, which matched what police knew at that moment: a credible verbal threat to bring loaded guns to campus, but no shots fired and no firearm yet sighted on MSU grounds",
        "The instruction to shelter inside a locked room with blinds closed is a secure-in-place posture, distinct from the Run-Hide-Fight framing typically reserved for confirmed active-shooter events"
      ],
      "characterCount": 137,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.montana.edu/police/crimealert.html"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 1:42 PM MDT on July 11, 2019",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "MSU Alert:  Continue to shelter in place. Remain inside locked rooms with closed windows and blinds. If not on campus, stay away.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceDescription": "MSU Police Crime Alerts archive",
      "annotations": [
        "Sent approximately 47 minutes after the first alert, during the search of Norm Asbjornson Hall and surrounding buildings",
        "The 'do not leave secured space' language explicitly closed the door on summer-session foot traffic, important because July classes were in session and the suspect had not yet been visually located",
        "Coverage described the update as repeating the shelter instructions rather than introducing new protective actions while the search continued"
      ],
      "characterCount": 129,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.montana.edu/police/crimealert.html"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestamp": "2019-07-11T14:16:00-06:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "MSU Alert:  This is a message from Montana State University Police. ALL CLEAR. The situation is all clear. You may resume normal activities.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.montana.edu/police/crimealert.html",
      "sourceDescription": "MSU Police Crime Alerts archive",
      "annotations": [
        "Sent six minutes after the suspect was taken into custody inside Norm Asbjornson Hall at approximately 2:10 PM MDT",
        "The message states the all-clear twice ('ALL CLEAR. The situation is all clear.'), a redundancy that reduces the chance of the message being read as a partial lift",
        "'You may resume normal activities' explicitly lifted the shelter-in-place for the whole campus community"
      ],
      "characterCount": 140
    }
  ],
  "context": "The case is a clear example of a Clery 'emergency notification' triggered by a credible verbal threat rather than an observed weapon on campus. According to [Bozeman Daily Chronicle](https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/montana-state-employee-arrested-after-threatening-campus/article_dc7c9815-c4f6-5701-8087-b2c28b2ab959.html) and [KPAX](https://www.kpax.com/news/montana-news/2019/07/11/montana-state-university-issues-alert-to-campus-to-seek-shelter/) reporting, the employee (who was in the process of being terminated) told a family member he was 'ready to end it all' with his guns loaded and 'ready to take out anyone with him.' The family member relayed the threat to police, who corroborated it with the suspect's social-media posts, and an MSU Alert shelter-in-place followed. Officers located the suspect inside [Norm Asbjornson Hall](https://www.montana.edu/police/crimealert.html), the engineering college's new 110,000-square-foot signature building (opened December 14, 2018, roughly seven months before the incident), and arrested him without incident at approximately 2:10 PM MDT. MSU Police Chief Frank Parrish later told [KTVQ](https://www.ktvq.com/news/montana-news/2019/07/11/montana-state-university-police-say-man-arrested-during-shelter-in-place-threat-ready-to-take-out-anyone-with-him/) that the man owned two shotguns and a rifle but was unarmed when taken into custody. He was transported for a mental-health evaluation rather than criminally charged. The incident illustrates the middle ground of threat assessment, when a reported threat is judged credible but no crime has been confirmed and no weapon has been seen on campus.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The first alert followed the initial report by approximately 40 minutes (12:15 PM to about 12:55 PM MDT), a window during which police corroborated the reported threat",
    "MSU Alert templates use a softer 'shelter in place / close blinds' posture rather than active-shooter Run-Hide-Fight language when no weapon is confirmed on campus",
    "The suspect was taken into custody inside MSU's flagship engineering building, Norm Asbjornson Hall, occupied at the time by summer-session classes and research staff",
    "The man was not criminally charged; police transported him for a mental-health evaluation after he was found unarmed"
  ],
  "responseTimeMinutes": 40,
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "MSU Police Crime Alerts archive",
      "url": "https://www.montana.edu/police/crimealert.html",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Montana State employee arrested after threatening campus (Bozeman Daily Chronicle)",
      "url": "https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/montana-state-employee-arrested-after-threatening-campus/article_dc7c9815-c4f6-5701-8087-b2c28b2ab959.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Details emerge in MSU 'shelter-in-place' incident (KPAX)",
      "url": "https://www.kpax.com/news/montana-news/2019/07/11/montana-state-university-issues-alert-to-campus-to-seek-shelter/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "MSU police say man arrested during shelter-in-place threat 'ready to take out anyone with him' (KTVQ)",
      "url": "https://www.ktvq.com/news/montana-news/2019/07/11/montana-state-university-police-say-man-arrested-during-shelter-in-place-threat-ready-to-take-out-anyone-with-him/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "MSU Bozeman campus cleared after threat (NBC Montana)",
      "url": "https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/msu-issues-alert-for-shelter-in-place-status",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "MSU campus shelter in place order lifted, all clear (KTVH)",
      "url": "https://www.ktvh.com/news/2019/07/11/msu-campus-shelter-in-place-order-lifted-all-clear/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Updated: MSU Employee Who Caused Campus Lockdown To Be Evaluated (Montana Public Radio)",
      "url": "https://www.mtpr.org/montana-news/2019-07-11/updated-msu-employee-who-caused-campus-lockdown-to-be-evaluated",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "shelter-in-place",
    "workplace-violence",
    "credible-threat",
    "norm-asbjornson-hall",
    "montana-state",
    "bozeman",
    "montana",
    "summer-session",
    "mental-health-hold"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-13",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-17",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}