Campus Alert Archive
Auraria

Three Schools, One Lockdown, and the Phrase 'Run, Hide or Fight'

COstabbingemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On the afternoon of April 6, 2021, the shared Auraria Campus in downtown Denver — home to MSU Denver, CU Denver and the Community College of Denver — was placed on lockdown after a stabbing at the nearby Auraria West light rail station. MSU Denver and CU Denver pushed alerts telling roughly 40,000 people across the three institutions to lock doors and to 'Run, hide or fight if appropriate.' The lockdown was lifted just before 5 p.m. with one suspect in custody; the stabbing had occurred during a disturbance on a light rail train and posed no broader threat.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
1
Institution
Auraria Campus (MSU Denver, CU Denver, Community College of Denver)
Community College · CO
~40,000 studentsAuraria Campus Emergency Notifications
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 2 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTTwitter/X
Verified verbatimMSU Denver official X/Twitter post (@msudenver) — verbatim lockdown alert204 chars
AURARIA CAMPUS lockdown! All entry doors are locked. Increase your awareness. Run, hide or fight if appropriate. Additional info from police will follow ASAP. We will provide updates on this tweet thread.
Posted by MSU Denver (@msudenver) around 4:20 p.m. MDT on April 6, 2021; the campus reopened at approximately 4:55 p.m. MDT.
Issuing a 'Run, hide or fight' alert — the standard active-shooter formula — for what was a stabbing at an off-campus light rail station is what students later objected to as panic-inducing; the message was a pre-written template meant to cover any lockdown situation.
Two of the three Auraria institutions (MSU Denver and CU Denver) sent the alert; the shared-campus model means a single incident triggers notifications from multiple schools' systems.
ALL CLEARTwitter/X
Verified verbatimDenver Gazette and KKTV both directly quote this as the verbatim CU Denver Alerts tweet issued just before 5:00 p.m. MDT on April 6, 2021, lifting the campus lockdown135 chars
Auraria Campus Police & Denver Police continue to investigate a stabbing near 5th & Walnut. A suspect is in custody. Campus is re-open.
Verbatim text confirmed: Denver Gazette and KKTV both quote this exact CU Denver Alerts tweet issued just before 5:00 p.m. MDT on April 6, 2021, lifting the Auraria Campus lockdown.
This is a genuine all-clear: it confirms a suspect is in custody and announces the campus is re-open, consistent with Denver Police saying the stabbing posed no broader danger.
The tweet uses 'Campus is re-open' rather than 'lockdown lifted' -- a less formal phrasing compared to the initial lockdown's 'Run, hide or fight' language.
Context

Background

The Auraria Campus is one of the most unusual emergency-communication environments in higher education: a single downtown Denver campus shared by three institutions — Metropolitan State University of Denver, the University of Colorado Denver and the Community College of Denver — serving roughly 40,000 students. On April 6, 2021, FOX31/KDVR reported that Denver Police were investigating a stabbing at the Auraria West light rail station on 5th Street near Walnut. MSU Denver and CU Denver sent students alerts that the campus was on lockdown and to 'Run, hide or fight if appropriate,' wording confirmed by KKTV. According to the Denver Gazette, a man was hospitalized, a suspect was taken into custody, and the lockdown was lifted just before 5 p.m. with no known ongoing threat. The incident became a touchstone in a longer campus debate: students later told FOX31 the active-shooter-style language for a stabbing caused unnecessary panic, and the Student Advisory Committee to the Auraria Board folded the complaint into a resolution seeking changes to the emergency notification system.
Analysis

Key Findings

A shared campus serving three institutions means one off-campus stabbing triggered lockdown alerts from multiple universities' systems at once
The verbatim 'Run, hide or fight if appropriate' wording — the standard active-shooter formula — was applied to a stabbing, which students said caused panic
The lockdown lasted under two hours and was lifted just before 5 p.m. MDT once a suspect was in custody
The episode fueled a student-led push to reform the Auraria emergency notification system and campus police communications
Outcome
One man was transported to a hospital; a suspect was taken into custody. Denver Police said there was no known ongoing threat to others. Students later criticized the active-shooter-style 'Run, hide or fight' wording for a stabbing.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Stabbing near Auraria Campus in Denver prompts lockdown - FOX31/KDVR
    kdvr.com
  2. News
    Suspect in custody after MSU Denver Auraria Campus placed on lockdown - KKTV
    kktv.com
  3. News
    Stabbing near Denver's Auraria Campus prompts lockdown; 1 in custody - Denver Gazette
    denvergazette.com
  4. News
    Denver police investigate stabbing near Auraria Campus - Denverite
    denverite.com
  5. News
    Auraria students calling for major changes to campus PD after 'Run, hide or fight' alert - FOX31/KDVR
    kdvr.com
Tags
stabbinglockdownshared-campuscoloradocommunity-collegerun-hide-fightalert-wordingauraria
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion