Campus Alert Archive
AU

30-Minute Shelter-in-Place: AU's Second Lockdown of 2024 Ended When the Gun Turned Out to Be a Toy

DCpolice activityemergency notificationmedium confidence

On the afternoon of October 9, 2024, American University ordered students to shelter in place after AUPD received a report of a student carrying a gun in Anderson Hall. The student moved to the Hall of Science and voluntarily met with officers — the 'gun' turned out to be a toy. From the 2:39 PM EDT initial alert to the 3:00 PM EDT all-clear, the entire incident ran about 21 minutes, AU's second AU Alert lockdown of 2024 after the April shuttle bus weapon incident.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
American University
Private R1 · DC
~14,000 studentsAU Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Verified verbatimAU Alert official archive page id=88 for the October 9, 2024 Anderson Hall incident; text also confirmed verbatim in @AmericanUPolice official X post (same standard template confirmed across both October 2024 and April 2024 events per The Eagle coverage)156 chars
Urgent AU Alert: Dangerous subject on or near campus. If outside, leave campus immediately. If inside, hide in a secure location, lock doors, avoid windows.
Verbatim text confirmed from the official AU Alert archive page (id=88) for the October 9, 2024 incident and from @AmericanUPolice official X posts — AU uses this exact template for all 'dangerous subject' emergencies
Sent at 2:39 PM EDT on October 9, 2024 — nine minutes after the 2:30 PM AUPD report of a student with a gun in Anderson Hall
'Dangerous subject' wording remains in use even when the threat is ultimately a toy — the system pre-commits AU to vague language until threat assessment is complete
Sent during midday on a Wednesday — most students and staff were in academic buildings and could comply with 'lock doors, avoid windows'
ALL CLEARSMS+22 min
Approximate reconstruction81 chars
Update from AUPD: A person is in custody. Campus can return to normal operations.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

[The Eagle](https://www.theeagleonline.com/article/2024/10/breaking-person-in-custody-following-shelter-in-place) reported the 3:01 PM EDT second AU Alert announced 'a person was in custody and campus could return to normal operations'
Total elapsed time from initial alert to all-clear: 22 minutes
The all-clear does not mention the gun was a toy — that detail came hours later in AU's [official memo](https://www.american.edu/finance/memos/update-on-emergency-alert-oct-2024.cfm)
Context

Background

On Wednesday, October 9, 2024, at approximately 2:30 PM EDT, the American University Police Department received a report of a student with a gun inside Anderson Hall, a residence hall on AU's northwest DC campus. AUPD immediately initiated a campus-wide shelter-in-place via AU Alert at 2:39 PM and contacted the Metropolitan Police Department for an armed response. The student, meanwhile, had moved from Anderson Hall to the Hall of Science, where they voluntarily met with AUPD officers. After AUPD confirmed there was no firearm — the reported 'gun' was a toy that officers confiscated — the all-clear was issued at 3:00 PM. The incident was AU's second campus-wide lockdown of 2024, coming roughly six months after the April 27 shuttle bus weapon incident. Both events fed into AU's ongoing review of whether to arm AUPD; in the days following the October alert, community forums on the arming question drew increased participation.
Analysis

Key Findings

AU's second lockdown of 2024 — when paired with the April 27 shuttle bus incident, established AU Alert's standard 'dangerous subject' template as the de facto response phrasing
The 22-minute incident-to-all-clear time was driven by the student's voluntary surrender — AUPD did not have to clear Anderson Hall room-by-room
Highlights a recurring pattern in 2020s campus alerts: 'gun' reports often resolve as toys, BB guns, or replicas — but the alert language cannot distinguish in real time
The October all-clear at 3:00 PM did not disclose that the weapon was a toy — that fact was reserved for a later official memo, preserving operational vagueness
Accelerated AU's community deliberation on arming AUPD, with forums drawing larger student attendance in October than in spring 2024
Outcome
AUPD made contact with the student, who voluntarily met with officers in the Hall of Science. The reported weapon was identified as a toy and confiscated. The student was taken into custody. No injuries reported.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
    AU Alert: Emergency Notification — October 9, 2024 (American University)
    american.edu
  2. Official
    Campus is Safe; Update on Emergency Alert, Oct. 10, 2024 — American University Office of Finance
    american.edu
  3. Student Paper
    BREAKING: Person in custody following shelter in place — The Eagle (AU student newspaper)
    theeagleonline.com
  4. Student Paper
    Students offered input at community forums on potential arming of University police — The Eagle
    theeagleonline.com
Tags
false-alarmtoy-gunprivate-r1washington-dcshelter-in-placeanderson-hallvoluntary-surrenderweekday-incident
Added May 2026Updated June 2026Via ingestion