{
  "id": "2024-07-08-winona-state-university-false-active-shooter-alert",
  "slug": "winona-state-university-false-active-shooter-alert-2024-07-08",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Winona State University",
    "shortName": "WSU",
    "state": "MN",
    "type": "public-masters",
    "alertSystemName": "WSU Alert",
    "enrollment": 7100
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2024-07-08",
    "type": "threat-of-violence",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "unfounded",
    "headline": "Active-shooter alerts issued for an assault that involved a pen, not a gun",
    "headlinePublic": "Active-shooter alerts issued for an assault that involved a pen, not a gun",
    "summary": "On the evening of [July 8, 2024](https://www.winonapost.com/news/agencies-review-emergency-alerts-after-confusion/article_c3745b20-43ea-11ef-8dfa-5356496f60ae.html), Winona State University Security in Winona, Minnesota issued the first of [several 'active shooter' alerts](https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/police-say-alert-about-active-shooter-was-mistakenly-sent-to-some-winona-residents/89-a3b4ba67-6c5f-484a-b3ca-17ea8781839b) after receiving word from law enforcement of an armed suspect 'near campus.' The actual incident, [a 5:20 PM CDT assault complaint at a business on Junction Street](https://www.kttc.com/2024/07/09/winona-authorities-wsu-take-closer-look-emergency-alert-systems-after-incorrect-alerts-sent/), involved a man who hit a female employee with what turned out to be a pen, not a gun. The 'campus' referenced was WSU's [West Campus, a location WSU no longer occupies](https://y105fm.com/ixp/669/p/winona-mn-false-active-shooter-assault/). The suspect, Stig Ure, 25, was arrested without incident. WSU Director of Security Chris Cichosz publicly apologized and the agencies launched a joint review of the emergency-alert system.",
    "outcome": "Suspect Stig Ure, 25, was arrested without incident and charged with assault; $500,000 bond set. No injuries from the active-shooter alert itself, but community confusion and fear documented by local media. WSU and Winona County Emergency Management launched a joint review of alert-system protocols.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 1
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2024-07-08T17:35:00-05:00",
      "timestampApprox": "approximately 5:35 PM CDT on July 8, 2024, shortly after the 5:20 PM assault report",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/police-say-alert-about-active-shooter-was-mistakenly-sent-to-some-winona-residents/89-a3b4ba67-6c5f-484a-b3ca-17ea8781839b",
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from KARE 11, Winona Post, and KTTC reporting describing the first of 'several active shooter messages' issued by WSU Security on the evening of July 8, 2024",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestampApprox": "Monday evening, July 8, 2024 CDT",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "WSU ALERT: Update #2: Active shooter is reported to be in WEST WINONA. Not on or near WSU campus. RUN, HIDE, FIGHT.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.kttc.com/2024/07/09/winona-authorities-wsu-take-closer-look-emergency-alert-systems-after-incorrect-alerts-sent/",
      "sourceDescription": "KTTC reproduced the verbatim text of WSU Alert 'Update #2' issued the evening of July 8, 2024",
      "annotations": [
        "Verbatim WSU Alert 'Update #2' as quoted by KTTC; it still carried the 'active shooter' framing while attempting to relocate the threat to 'WEST WINONA' away from the WSU campus",
        "The repeated 'active shooter' framing across the message series amplified community fear and contributed to confusion documented by Winona Post, KARE 11, and KTTC",
        "Corrected 2026-06-21: the trailing 'RUN, HIDE, FIGHT.' instruction was recovered and confirmed identically across multiple independent secondary sources (KTTC, krocnews/KDHL, Winona Post, Winona Daily News), which all reproduce the same full text"
      ],
      "characterCount": 115
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "correction",
      "timestampApprox": "Monday evening, July 8, 2024 CDT, after law enforcement clarified the suspect was not armed with a gun",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.kttc.com/2024/07/09/winona-authorities-wsu-take-closer-look-emergency-alert-systems-after-incorrect-alerts-sent/",
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from KTTC reporting quoting WSU Director of Security Chris Cichosz that 'the armed suspect was not an active shooter' and that 'campus' referred to a location formerly occupied by WSU",
      "annotations": []
    }
  ],
  "context": "Winona State University is a [public master's institution in Winona, Minnesota](https://www.winona.edu/), with about 7,100 students. On the evening of Monday, July 8, 2024, WSU Security received a report from law enforcement of an 'armed suspect' 'near campus' and issued [the first of several active-shooter alerts via the WSU Alert system](https://www.winonapost.com/news/agencies-review-emergency-alerts-after-confusion/article_c3745b20-43ea-11ef-8dfa-5356496f60ae.html). What had actually happened: at 5:20 p.m. CDT, Winona Police responded to an assault complaint at a business on Junction Street, where a man had reportedly hit a female employee repeatedly on the back of the neck; Stig Ure, 25, was arrested and charged with assault. The 'weapon' was [a black and silver pen](https://y105fm.com/ixp/669/p/winona-mn-false-active-shooter-assault/). The 'campus' was [WSU's West Campus, a location WSU had vacated](https://www.kttc.com/2024/07/09/winona-authorities-wsu-take-closer-look-emergency-alert-systems-after-incorrect-alerts-sent/). To compound the confusion, Winona County Emergency Management's Facebook page (set up to automatically rebroadcast emergency alerts) mislabeled the WSU shelter-in-place as a weather alert. Ure was arrested without incident and a $500,000 bond was set. [WSU Director of Security Chris Cichosz publicly apologized](https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/police-say-alert-about-active-shooter-was-mistakenly-sent-to-some-winona-residents/89-a3b4ba67-6c5f-484a-b3ca-17ea8781839b) and the agencies launched a joint review. The incident has become a small but instructive case study in how a single inaccurate descriptor ('armed') can cascade into a city-wide false 'active shooter' alert.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "A single inaccurate descriptor ('armed') from a third-party law-enforcement report cascaded into multiple active-shooter alerts in a city where the actual weapon was a pen",
    "The 'campus' referenced in the alerts was WSU's West Campus, a property the university no longer occupied, an indication of stale geographic data in the alert template",
    "Winona County Emergency Management's automated Facebook rebroadcaster mislabeled the WSU alert as a weather alert, an automation failure layered on top of the human-language failure",
    "WSU Director of Security Chris Cichosz issued a rare public apology, and a joint agency review of alert protocols was launched, an unusual after-action step for a non-fatal incident",
    "WSU publicly walked back the active-shooter classification, an explicit retraction that is rare in documented campus alerting"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Agencies review emergency alerts after confusion (Winona Post)",
      "url": "https://www.winonapost.com/news/agencies-review-emergency-alerts-after-confusion/article_c3745b20-43ea-11ef-8dfa-5356496f60ae.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Police: Alert about active shooter was mistakenly sent to some Winona residents (KARE 11)",
      "url": "https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/police-say-alert-about-active-shooter-was-mistakenly-sent-to-some-winona-residents/89-a3b4ba67-6c5f-484a-b3ca-17ea8781839b",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Winona authorities and WSU take closer look at emergency alert systems after incorrect alerts sent (KTTC)",
      "url": "https://www.kttc.com/2024/07/09/winona-authorities-wsu-take-closer-look-emergency-alert-systems-after-incorrect-alerts-sent/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "$500K bond set for man charged with assault in Winona that led to shelter-in-place order (Winona Daily News)",
      "url": "https://winonadailynews.com/news/local/crime-courts/article_40c48a2e-3e2c-11ef-b92b-7ff4cdb545a8.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Assault Triggers False Active Shooter Alert in Winona (Y105 FM)",
      "url": "https://y105fm.com/ixp/669/p/winona-mn-false-active-shooter-assault/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "WSU Alert System FAQs (Winona State University)",
      "url": "https://www.winona.edu/about/safety-security/wsu-alert-system-faqs/",
      "type": "official-archive"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "false-alert",
    "correction",
    "active-shooter-alert",
    "minnesota",
    "winona-state",
    "public-masters",
    "alert-system-failure",
    "diversity-priority",
    "small-state-campus"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-14",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}