Campus Alert Archive
Biola

An Armed Threat to La Mirada That Never Arrived: Biola's Proactive Campus Search Without a Lockdown

CAarmed personadvisorymedium confidence

On February 6, 2020, Biola University in La Mirada, California -- a private evangelical Christian university -- received word from the Norwalk Sheriff's Station at 11:32 AM PST that a 55-year-old man had called a healthcare agency in Anaheim claiming to be armed and intending to kill people, with Biola University as his stated target. Campus Safety Chief John Ojeisekhoba launched a campus-wide search for the suspect without placing the campus on lockdown. Students were alerted via advisory message not to approach the suspect and to call Campus Safety immediately. The suspect never arrived on campus and no threat was confirmed.

Alerts
1
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Biola University
Private R2 · CA
Biola Emergency Communications
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

1 message in sequence

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
Approximate reconstruction264 chars
Biola Emergency: Campus Safety is searching for a suspect who has made threats targeting Biola University. Suspect is described as a 55-year-old male with brown hair and eyes. If you see this person, do not approach. Call Campus Safety immediately at 562-777-4000.

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

Issued at 11:32 AM PST on February 6, 2020 -- the same time Campus Safety received the Norwalk Sheriff's Station call about the threat; the rapid alert reflects Biola's proactive information-sharing approach
The advisory was deliberately classified as a search advisory rather than a lockdown -- Campus Safety chose not to lock down because the suspect had not been confirmed on campus and was only a stated intended target
The suspect description (55-year-old Native American male, 5'7", 150 lbs, brown hair and eyes) was specific enough to enable community identification -- a useful detail when the threat involves an external individual approaching campus
Context

Background

On February 6, 2020, Biola University in La Mirada, California -- a private evangelical Christian university of approximately 6,000 students -- learned at 11:32 AM PST that an armed individual had called a health care agency in Anaheim claiming he was armed and planning to kill people, with La Mirada and specifically Biola University named as the target. The call was relayed to Biola by the Norwalk Sheriff's Station. Campus Safety Chief John Ojeisekhoba made the decision not to lock down the campus, as the suspect had not been confirmed on campus. Instead, Campus Safety issued an advisory alert with the suspect's physical description -- a 55-year-old man, 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes -- and asked community members not to approach him and to call Campus Safety at 562-777-4000 if he was spotted. Campus Safety officers searched the campus in coordination with the Norwalk Sheriff's Department. The suspect never arrived. The incident illustrates a judgment call made by many campus safety directors: when a threatened-but-not-present suspect is approaching a campus, a targeted advisory may be more proportionate than a full lockdown, which can create panic and disrupt operations unnecessarily.
Analysis

Key Findings

Campus Safety's decision to issue an advisory rather than a lockdown reflects a proportionality calculation: the suspect had not been confirmed on campus and had only stated intent, creating uncertainty about whether the threat was credible or executable
The detailed physical description in the alert -- 55-year-old male, 5'7", 150 lbs, brown hair and eyes -- represents a more actionable advisory than generic lockdown language, enabling community members to be specific witnesses rather than passive shelter-in-place occupants
The incident occurred one week before COVID-19 would begin disrupting California campus operations, making it an example of pre-pandemic campus security response at a faith-based institution
Outcome
Suspect never confirmed on campus. No injuries. Campus Safety conducted a search with Norwalk Sheriff assistance. No lockdown was issued. Situation cleared.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Student Paper
    Individual threatens campus with a gun (The Chimes, Biola University student newspaper)
    chimesnewspaper.com
  2. Official
    Emergency Communications (Biola University)
    emergency.biola.edu
Tags
armed-personadvisorythreatcaliforniala-miradaevangelicalfaith-basedprivate-r2proactive-searchno-lockdownexternal-threat
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion