{
  "id": "2014-06-05-seattle-pacific-university-shooting",
  "slug": "seattle-pacific-university-shooting-2014-06-05",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Seattle Pacific University",
    "shortName": "SPU",
    "state": "WA",
    "type": "private-masters",
    "enrollment": 4000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2014-06-05",
    "type": "active-shooter",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "headline": "Campus shooting killed one student; gunman tackled by a student building monitor",
    "headlinePublic": "Campus shooting killed one student; gunman tackled by a student building monitor",
    "summary": "Aaron Ybarra, 27, [opened fire with a shotgun outside Otto Miller Hall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Seattle_Pacific_University_shooting) at Seattle Pacific University on June 5, 2014, killing one student (Paul Lee, 19) and wounding two others (Thomas Fowler and the critically injured Sarah Williams). The shooting ended when student building monitor Jon Meis tackled Ybarra after the shotgun misfired. Meis used pepper spray to subdue the shooter until police arrived. Ybarra was later [sentenced to 112 years in prison](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/aaron-ybarra-sentenced-to-112-years-for-deadly-shooting-at-seattle-pacific-university/).",
    "outcome": "One student killed (Paul Lee, 19). Two others critically wounded but survived. Ybarra was tackled by student monitor Jon Meis and held until police arrived. Ybarra was later sentenced to 112 years in prison.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 1,
      "injured": 2
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 3:26 p.m. PDT, June 5, 2014",
      "channel": "digital-signage",
      "verbatimText": "Emergency. Campus is on lockdown.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.justiceclearinghouse.com/resource/webinar-notes-lessons-seattle-pacific-university-shooting/",
      "sourceDescription": "Justice Clearinghouse webinar notes, 'Lessons from the Seattle Pacific University Shooting,' documenting the first campus reader-board message",
      "annotations": [
        "The first emergency message displayed on SPU's campus reader boards; per the lessons-learned webinar, the entire campus was locked down within 15 seconds of the shots-fired notice and the community notified in under a minute",
        "Five words with no location, no threat description, and no protective action beyond the lockdown itself; SPU's pre-scripted activation prioritized speed over detail",
        "Follow-up reader-board messages documented in the same notes read 'Campus remains in lockdown, remain sheltered in place' and 'Campus remains in lockdown. Please stay indoors.'",
        "By the time the lockdown messaging cycle began, student building monitor Jon Meis had already tackled the shooter outside Otto Miller Hall"
      ],
      "characterCount": 33
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 1-2 hours after initial alert, June 5, 2014",
      "channel": "digital-signage",
      "verbatimText": "Campus is out of lockdown. All classes are canceled. Check SPU website for updates.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.justiceclearinghouse.com/resource/webinar-notes-lessons-seattle-pacific-university-shooting/",
      "sourceDescription": "Justice Clearinghouse webinar notes, 'Lessons from the Seattle Pacific University Shooting,' documenting the lockdown-release reader-board message",
      "annotations": [
        "The reader-board message releasing the lockdown makes no mention of the arrest or the fatality; it routes the community to the SPU website for those details",
        "Canceling all classes in the same breath as lifting the lockdown signals the campus was moving from response to recovery",
        "SPU is a small private university (4,000 students) where news travels fast through social networks, so the message confirmed what many already knew"
      ],
      "characterCount": 83
    }
  ],
  "context": "[Seattle Pacific University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Pacific_University) is a small private Christian university in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood. The [shooting at Otto Miller Hall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Seattle_Pacific_University_shooting) became nationally known not for the attack itself, but for the heroic response of student building monitor Jon Meis. When Ybarra paused to reload and the shotgun misfired, Meis tackled the shooter and used pepper spray to subdue him. Other students then helped hold Ybarra until police arrived. The incident became a case study in the effectiveness of the \"run, hide, fight\" framework, particularly the \"fight\" element. Ybarra, who had no connection to SPU, told investigators the shooting was \"so fun.\" He was later diagnosed with mental illness and [sentenced to 112 years in prison](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/aaron-ybarra-sentenced-to-112-years-for-deadly-shooting-at-seattle-pacific-university/). The incident prompted discussions about whether arming student building monitors or placing them in security roles was appropriate for small private campuses.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "Student building monitor Jon Meis's intervention became a national example of the 'fight' option in run-hide-fight active shooter response training",
    "The shotgun's failure to fire as the gunman reloaded created the opening for the student building monitor to intervene",
    "SPU's small campus size (4,000 students) meant the response was intimate and personal in ways that differ from large university shootings",
    "The shooter had no connection to SPU, raising questions about campus access control at small open-campus institutions"
  ],
  "responseTimeMinutes": 1,
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Timeline: Seattle Pacific University shooting (KING 5)",
      "url": "https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/timeline-seattle-pacific-university-shooting/281-244056933",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "3 shot at Seattle Pacific University before student tackles gunman (CNN)",
      "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2014/06/05/justice/seattle-campus-shooting/index.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Aaron Ybarra sentenced to 112 years (Seattle Times)",
      "url": "https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/aaron-ybarra-sentenced-to-112-years-for-deadly-shooting-at-seattle-pacific-university/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "(Updated) Gunman Kills One, Wounds Two at Seattle Pacific University - Seattle Police Department Blotter",
      "url": "https://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2014/06/05/gunman-kills-one-wounds-two-at-seattle-pacific-university/",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Webinar Notes: Lessons from the Seattle Pacific University Shooting - Justice Clearinghouse",
      "url": "https://www.justiceclearinghouse.com/resource/webinar-notes-lessons-seattle-pacific-university-shooting/",
      "type": "after-action-report"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "active-shooter",
    "private-masters",
    "student-hero",
    "pepper-spray",
    "shotgun-misfire",
    "run-hide-fight",
    "washington",
    "small-campus",
    "building-monitor"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-04-04",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-06-10",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}