{
  "id": "2017-12-13-penn-state-beaver-shooting",
  "slug": "penn-state-beaver-shooting-2017-12-13",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Penn State Beaver",
    "shortName": "PSU Beaver",
    "state": "PA",
    "type": "public-bachelors",
    "alertSystemName": "PSUAlert",
    "enrollment": 700
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2017-12-13",
    "type": "shooting",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "Employee fatally shot by her ex-husband in a campus parking lot murder-suicide",
    "headlinePublic": "Employee fatally shot by her ex-husband in a campus parking lot murder-suicide",
    "summary": "On December 13, 2017, William Kelly, 52, [shot and killed his ex-wife Lesli Kelly](https://beaver.psu.edu/feature/police-confirm-two-dead-following-shooting-penn-state-beaver-campus), 49, a Penn State food services employee, in a parking lot near the campus Bistro at Penn State Beaver. He then killed himself. The two had recently divorced and were in a custody dispute. Kelly had arranged to meet under the guise of dropping off Christmas presents for their children. Penn State Beaver issued a campus alert at 3:56 p.m. EST stating shots had been fired but that the situation was contained.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "outcome": "Lesli Kelly was killed and William Kelly died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No students were involved or injured. The campus was closed for the remainder of the day and reopened at 8:00 a.m. the following morning.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 1,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2017-12-13T15:56:00-05:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "01PSU AlertBR: Shots fired near Bistro. Situation is contained. We will remain on lockdown until further notice. Authorities responding.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://beaver.psu.edu/feature/police-confirm-two-dead-following-shooting-penn-state-beaver-campus",
      "sourceDescription": "Penn State Beaver Official News",
      "annotations": [
        "The '01PSU AlertBR' prefix identifies this as a Penn State Beaver-specific alert within the broader Penn State system",
        "The alert simultaneously confirmed shots fired and stated the situation was contained, reflecting the rapid determination that the shooter was also dead",
        "Sent at 3:56 p.m. EST on December 13, 2017, shortly after the shooting in the parking lot near the campus food services building"
      ],
      "characterCount": 136
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2017-12-13T16:17:00-05:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "01PSU AlertBR: Incident on campus. Police on scene. No threat at this time. Please avoid Student Union Bldg and Food Services area.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://beaver.psu.edu/feature/police-confirm-two-dead-following-shooting-penn-state-beaver-campus",
      "sourceDescription": "Penn State Beaver Official News",
      "annotations": [
        "Sent 21 minutes after the initial alert, this message clarified there was no ongoing threat",
        "Directed people to avoid the Student Union Building and Food Services area where the shooting occurred",
        "The campus was subsequently closed for the remainder of the day"
      ],
      "characterCount": 131
    }
  ],
  "context": "The Penn State Beaver shooting of December 13, 2017, was a [domestic violence murder-suicide](https://beaver.psu.edu/feature/police-confirm-two-dead-following-shooting-penn-state-beaver-campus) that unfolded at one of Penn State's smallest commonwealth campuses, a branch campus with roughly 700 students in Monaca, Pennsylvania. William Kelly had arranged to meet his recently divorced ex-wife, Lesli Kelly, in the campus parking lot under the pretense of dropping off Christmas presents for their children. Instead, he [pulled out two .45-caliber handguns](https://www.wesa.fm/identity-justice/2017-12-13/estranged-husband-kills-penn-state-beaver-employee-and-himself-in-campus-parking-lot) and shot her before killing himself. The incident raised uncomfortable questions about workplace violence and domestic violence spillover onto college campuses. Lesli Kelly was a food services employee, not a student, and the shooter had no affiliation with the university. Penn State's alert system performed well technically; the first notification went out within minutes and accurately conveyed both the incident and the contained status. The [Daily Collegian reported](https://www.collegian.psu.edu/news/campus/article_36f8f330-e04c-11e7-a77a-cbb83d2a21b6.html) on the shooting, and [CBS News captured the police-confirmed murder-suicide frame](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-of-shooting-at-penn-state-beaver-campus/) that local outlets carried nationally. Penn State Beaver Chancellor Jennifer Cushman confirmed that no students were involved. The campus closed for the remainder of the day and reopened the following morning. The incident illustrated that campus violence is not limited to large research universities or to student-on-student conflict. Small branch campuses with minimal security infrastructure can become sites of domestic violence when employees' personal lives intersect with the workplace.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The shooting was a domestic violence murder-suicide involving a campus employee and her estranged ex-husband, not a student-related incident",
    "Penn State's PSU Alert system delivered accurate, timely notifications within minutes of the shooting",
    "The initial alert simultaneously confirmed shots fired and stated the situation was contained, an unusual combination that reflected the murder-suicide resolution",
    "The incident highlighted that small branch campuses with limited security are vulnerable to domestic violence spillover"
  ],
  "responseTimeMinutes": 5,
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Police confirm two dead following shooting on Penn State Beaver campus - Penn State Beaver",
      "url": "https://beaver.psu.edu/feature/police-confirm-two-dead-following-shooting-penn-state-beaver-campus",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Penn State Beaver shooting: Ex-couple dead following commonwealth campus murder-suicide - The Daily Collegian",
      "url": "https://www.collegian.psu.edu/news/campus/article_36f8f330-e04c-11e7-a77a-cbb83d2a21b6.html",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "Estranged Husband Kills Penn State Beaver Employee And Himself In Campus Parking Lot - WESA",
      "url": "https://www.wesa.fm/identity-justice/2017-12-13/estranged-husband-kills-penn-state-beaver-employee-and-himself-in-campus-parking-lot",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Officials: 2 dead in possible murder-suicide at Penn State Beaver campus - CBS News",
      "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-of-shooting-at-penn-state-beaver-campus/",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "shooting",
    "domestic-violence",
    "murder-suicide",
    "workplace-violence",
    "branch-campus",
    "small-campus",
    "employee-targeted",
    "2017"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-04-04",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}