{
  "id": "2024-04-04-university-of-iowa-armed-person",
  "slug": "university-of-iowa-armed-person-2024-04-04",
  "institution": {
    "name": "University of Iowa",
    "shortName": "UIowa",
    "state": "IA",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "Hawk Alert",
    "enrollment": 31240
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2024-04-04",
    "type": "armed-person",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "headline": "Knife threats near a science building prompt alert; suspect later arrested",
    "headlinePublic": "Knife threats near a science building prompt alert; suspect later arrested",
    "summary": "On April 4, 2024, the University of Iowa issued a [Hawk Alert at 9:42 AM CDT](https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/iowa-university-issues-hawk-alert-for-knife-threat-last-seen-near-van-allen-hall) after reports of a man making threats with a knife near Van Allen Hall. The suspect, later identified by police as [Jonathan Kim, 47](https://police.uiowa.edu/news/2024/05/arrest-made-following-april-4-hawk-alert), was wearing jeans and a dark jacket and was last seen near the science building.",
    "outcome": "An all-clear was issued approximately one hour later. Jonathan Kim was later arrested and charged with assault while displaying a dangerous weapon. Iowa City police confirmed no direct threats were made against individuals and no injuries occurred."
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2024-04-04T09:42:00-05:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "HAWK ALERT: Male subject making threats with a knife wearing jeans and a dark jacket last seen near Van Allen, avoid the area. More: emergency.uiowa.edu",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://emergency.uiowa.edu/hawk-alert-male-subject-making-threats-knife-wearing-jeans-and-dark-jacket-last-seen-near-van-allen",
      "sourceDescription": "University of Iowa Hawk Alert Archive (page title = full SMS)",
      "annotations": [
        "Verbatim text confirmed from the University of Iowa Emergency Updates page",
        "Van Allen Hall is a major science building on the east side of the Pentacrest, housing the Department of Physics and Astronomy"
      ],
      "characterCount": 152
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestamp": "2024-04-04T10:41:00-05:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "HAWK ALERT: No injuries were reported. Police continue to investigate. Resume normal activity. See http://emergency.uiowa.edu for more.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://emergency.uiowa.edu/hawk-alert-male-subject-making-threats-knife-wearing-jeans-and-dark-jacket-last-seen-near-van-allen",
      "sourceDescription": "UI Hawk Alert page situation update 04/04/2024 10:41 AM (full HAWK ALERT SMS text)",
      "annotations": [
        "Situation-update HAWK ALERT on the official knife-threat page dated 04/04/2024 10:41 AM.",
        "Prior confirmed template reused other incidents' resume-normal-activity wording; replaced with incident-specific text.",
        "Uses http://emergency.uiowa.edu (not https) as posted on the archive page."
      ],
      "characterCount": 135
    }
  ],
  "context": "On the morning of April 4, 2024, Iowa City and University of Iowa Police responded to reports of a man carrying a knife near the intersection of [North Dubuque and Jefferson streets](https://www.kcrg.com/2024/04/04/hawk-alert-police-search-suspect-armed-with-knife-univ-iowa-campus/), close to Van Allen Hall on the University of Iowa campus. The university issued a Hawk Alert at 9:42 AM CDT, the first such alert of the spring semester, describing the suspect as a male wearing jeans and a dark jacket. The alert prompted shelter-in-place responses in nearby buildings during morning classes. Iowa City police [later clarified](https://www.thegazette.com/higher-education/ui-police-warn-of-male-making-threats-with-a-knife-on-campus/) that \"no threats were made\" directly to individuals, though witnesses reported the man was behaving erratically with a knife. An all-clear was issued approximately one hour later. In May 2024, [Jonathan Kim, 47, was arrested](https://police.uiowa.edu/news/2024/05/arrest-made-following-april-4-hawk-alert) and charged with assault while displaying a dangerous weapon in connection with the incident. The Daily Iowan later published an [analysis of Hawk Alert decision-making](https://dailyiowan.com/2024/04/08/heres-how-ui-officials-decide-what-goes-into-a-hawk-alert/) in response to this incident.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The Hawk Alert text was confirmed verbatim from the University of Iowa Emergency Updates page",
    "Iowa City police later clarified that no direct threats were made to individuals despite the alert describing 'threats with a knife'",
    "The incident prompted a Daily Iowan investigation into how university officials decide when to issue a Hawk Alert"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "HAWK ALERT: Male subject making threats with a knife (University of Iowa Emergency Updates)",
      "url": "https://emergency.uiowa.edu/hawk-alert-male-subject-making-threats-knife-wearing-jeans-and-dark-jacket-last-seen-near-van-allen",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Arrest made following April 4 Hawk Alert (UI Police Department)",
      "url": "https://police.uiowa.edu/news/2024/05/arrest-made-following-april-4-hawk-alert",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "UI issues Hawk Alert for knife threat, last seen near Van Allen Hall (CBS2 Iowa)",
      "url": "https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/iowa-university-issues-hawk-alert-for-knife-threat-last-seen-near-van-allen-hall",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Iowa City police: 'No threats were made' in Hawk Alert incident (The Gazette)",
      "url": "https://www.thegazette.com/higher-education/ui-police-warn-of-male-making-threats-with-a-knife-on-campus/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Here's how UI officials decide what goes into a Hawk Alert (Daily Iowan)",
      "url": "https://dailyiowan.com/2024/04/08/heres-how-ui-officials-decide-what-goes-into-a-hawk-alert/",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "Hawk Alert Archive — University of Iowa Emergency Updates",
      "url": "https://emergency.uiowa.edu/archive",
      "type": "official-archive"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "armed-person",
    "knife",
    "iowa",
    "big-ten",
    "hawk-alert",
    "van-allen-hall",
    "morning-incident",
    "arrest"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-02",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-19",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}