{
  "id": "2013-04-16-tarrant-county-college-southeast-armed-suspect",
  "slug": "tarrant-county-college-southeast-armed-suspect-2013-04-16",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Tarrant County College",
    "shortName": "TCC",
    "state": "TX",
    "type": "community-college",
    "alertSystemName": "myTCC Alerts",
    "enrollment": 47000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2013-04-16",
    "type": "armed-person",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "Armed burglary suspect reported in woods behind campus; hour-long lockdown",
    "headlinePublic": "Armed burglary suspect reported in woods behind campus; hour-long lockdown",
    "summary": "On April 16, 2013, [Tarrant County College's Southeast Campus](https://www.tccd.edu/locations/southeast-campus/) in Arlington, Texas was placed on lockdown around noon CDT after police reported an [armed burglary suspect](https://collegian.tccd.edu/10247/april-17-2013/se-faces-lockdown-as-police-seek-burglary-suspect/), described as wearing a black hoodie and having stolen a .22 firearm, was in the wooded area behind the campus. Students and staff remained locked down for approximately one hour while [police helicopters from Dallas and Grand Prairie](https://www.foxnews.com/us/lockdown-lifted-at-tarrant-county-college-after-reports-of-gunman-on-campus) searched the area. The lockdown was lifted around 1 p.m. CDT, but the campus remained closed for the rest of the day.",
    "outcome": "Lockdown lifted approximately one hour after it began, around 1 p.m. CDT. The suspect was not located on campus during the search. The campus remained closed for the rest of the day. No injuries reported. Police continued the broader search for the burglary suspect off-site.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately noon CDT on April 16, 2013",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "Tarrant County College Southeast Campus is currently on lockdown. There is an Armed suspect in the woods behind the campus.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://collegian.tccd.edu/10247/april-17-2013/se-faces-lockdown-as-police-seek-burglary-suspect/",
      "sourceDescription": "TCC emergency notification website statement, quoted in The Collegian (TCC student newspaper)",
      "annotations": [
        "TCC posted this exact text on its emergency notification website at approximately noon CDT, simultaneously alerting students through Twitter and email",
        "The suspect was described in police communications as wearing a black hoodie and possessing a stolen .22 firearm"
      ],
      "characterCount": 123
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestampApprox": "Around noon CDT on April 16, 2013, sent simultaneously with the website post",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "TCC SE Campus Emergency LOCKDOWN in effect – TAKE ACTION NOW – LEAVE IF YOU CAN. STAY in your room or building, TURN OUT lights, CLOSE blinds, LOCK or barricade doors and windows, SILENCE your cell phones. Await further instructions.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://collegian.tccd.edu/10247/april-17-2013/se-faces-lockdown-as-police-seek-burglary-suspect/",
      "sourceDescription": "myTCC emergency alert text, quoted in The Collegian (TCC student newspaper)",
      "annotations": [
        "Verbatim recovery: The Collegian reproduced the actual myTCC alert sent by phone, text, email, message clocks, and campus computers, showing the all-caps action banner ('TAKE ACTION NOW – LEAVE IF YOU CAN') followed by the standardized lockdown instruction set.",
        "The capitalized verb sequence (STAY, TURN OUT, CLOSE, LOCK, SILENCE) is TCC's templated lockdown-instruction language, preserved here exactly as quoted",
        "The campus was not evacuated; the 'LEAVE IF YOU CAN' / 'STAY in your room or building' phrasing gave occupants a run-or-hide decision rather than a blanket shelter order"
      ],
      "characterCount": 233
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 1:00 PM CDT on April 16, 2013",
      "channel": "website",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from Fox News and CBS Texas reporting on the lockdown's resolution",
      "annotations": []
    }
  ],
  "context": "[Tarrant County College](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarrant_County_College) is one of the largest community college districts in Texas, serving approximately 47,000 students across six campuses in the Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area. The [Southeast Campus](https://www.tccd.edu/locations/southeast-campus/) sits on a 152-acre site in Arlington adjacent to wooded areas, a typical layout for suburban community college campuses that creates inherent perimeter security challenges. The April 16, 2013 lockdown was triggered by an [armed burglary suspect](https://collegian.tccd.edu/10247/april-17-2013/se-faces-lockdown-as-police-seek-burglary-suspect/) who had stolen a .22 firearm and was last seen in a wooded area behind the campus. Police helicopters from Dallas and Grand Prairie searched the area while TCC placed the campus on lockdown; the lockdown lasted approximately one hour before being lifted around 1 p.m. CDT, although the campus remained closed for the rest of the day. The incident illustrates a common pattern at community colleges, where off-campus criminal activity spills onto campus property and forces lockdowns even when no direct threat is made against the institution. TCC's response combined Twitter posts, website updates, and internal myTCC Alerts.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The lockdown was triggered by an off-campus burglary suspect who fled into the woods behind the campus, not by any threat directed at TCC itself",
    "Suburban community college campuses with wooded perimeters can present perimeter-control and search challenges during police operations",
    "TCC used a multi-channel alert approach combining Twitter, website postings, and internal myTCC Alerts sent by phone, text, and email",
    "The lockdown lasted approximately one hour and was lifted around 1 p.m. CDT, but the campus remained closed for the remainder of the day even though the lockdown was lifted",
    "Police did not locate the suspect on campus before lifting the lockdown, raising questions about how community colleges should communicate the difference between 'all-clear on campus' and 'threat fully resolved'"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "TCC SE Campus In Arlington On Lockdown - CBS Dallas / Fort Worth",
      "url": "https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/04/16/tcc-in-arlington-on-lockdown/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Tarrant County College on lockdown while police search for armed suspect - CultureMap Dallas",
      "url": "https://dallas.culturemap.com/news/city-life/04-16-13-tarrant-county-college-on-lockdown-while-police-search-for-armed-suspect-1",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Lockdown lifted at Tarrant County College after reports of gunman on campus - Fox News",
      "url": "https://www.foxnews.com/us/lockdown-lifted-at-tarrant-county-college-after-reports-of-gunman-on-campus",
      "type": "national-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "SE faces lockdown as police seek burglary suspect - The Collegian (TCC student newspaper)",
      "url": "https://collegian.tccd.edu/10247/april-17-2013/se-faces-lockdown-as-police-seek-burglary-suspect/",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "TCC Southeast Campus - Tarrant County College",
      "url": "https://www.tccd.edu/locations/southeast-campus/",
      "type": "official-archive"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "armed-person",
    "community-college",
    "lockdown",
    "shelter-in-place",
    "texas",
    "off-campus-spillover",
    "perimeter-security",
    "twitter-alerts"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-03",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}