Campus Alert Archive
CCRI

A Backpack and the Butt of a Rifle Put CCRI Warwick on a Four-Hour Lockdown

RIarmed personemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On April 7, 2026, the Community College of Rhode Island's Warwick campus went into a nearly four-hour lockdown after someone reported a man walking into the wooded area near campus with what looked like the butt of a firearm sticking out of his backpack. President Rosemary A. Costigan told students the college locked down "out of an abundance of caution" in coordination with Warwick Police. Police later recovered a backpack containing an airsoft gun and a black pellet rifle, and an arrest followed two days later.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Community College of Rhode Island
Community College · RI
~13,000 studentsCCRI Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence · 2 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 ALERTFacebook
Verified verbatimVerbatim CCRI lockdown alert posted to CCRI's Facebook page at 9:15 a.m. on April 7, 2026, quoted by Warwick Post and confirmed by multiple local outlets160 chars
Lockdown at the Warwick campus. Based on location, decide to run, hide, or fight. Seek shelter, turn off lights and silence your cell phone. Wait for all-clear.
Verbatim alert text confirmed: Warwick Post and multiple outlets quoted the full text from CCRI's Facebook page, posted at 9:15 a.m. on April 7, 2026; the opening 'Lockdown at the Warwick campus.' campus-specifier was followed immediately by the run-hide-fight framework
The trigger was a backpack with what looked like the butt of a firearm protruding, reported as a man walked toward the wooded area near the Warwick campus.
CCRI chose 'run, hide, or fight' language rather than a standard shelter-in-place instruction, which is an active-shooter-response framework applied here to an armed-person-nearby scenario
UPDATEEmail
Verified verbatimBoston.com, quoting President Rosemary A. Costigan's message to students259 chars
Out of an abundance of caution, and in coordination with the Warwick Police Department, the college implemented a lockdown while law enforcement responded. All classes and activities on the Warwick Campus are canceled for the remainder of the day and evening.
These two sentences are quoted verbatim from President Costigan's email to students as reproduced by Boston.com, so this alert is confirmed.
The message canceled the full day and evening on the Warwick campus only, leaving CCRI's other campuses operating normally — a containment choice for a multi-campus system.
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstruction232 chars
CCRI ALERT: The lockdown on the Warwick Campus has been lifted. Police have searched the campus and surrounding area. Classes and activities remain canceled for the rest of today; campus will reopen on the regular schedule tomorrow.

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

Reconstructed all-clear; NBC Boston and WPRI confirm the lockdown lasted nearly four hours before being lifted after a search of the campus and woods.
This message lifts the lockdown but keeps the day's cancellations in place, so it functions as a true all-clear on the immediate threat while preserving the operational closure.
Context

Background

On April 7, 2026, a report of a man carrying a backpack with what appeared to be the butt of a firearm sent CCRI's Warwick campus into a lockdown that lasted nearly four hours. WPRI reported that police searched the campus and adjacent woods and recovered a backpack containing an airsoft gun and a black pellet rifle, but did not find the person during the lockdown. President Rosemary A. Costigan told students the college acted "out of an abundance of caution" and canceled the rest of the day. Two days later, Warwick Police arrested 41-year-old Nathan Randall on a charge of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. The case shows how a community college — a sector with many commuter students and fewer resident-life touchpoints — handled a sustained armed-person lockdown, and how an ambiguous object (a pellet rifle visible in a backpack) justified a full emergency notification.
Analysis

Key Findings

CCRI's Warwick campus held a nearly four-hour lockdown on April 7, 2026 after a report of a man with what looked like a firearm in his backpack
President Costigan's verbatim message framed the lockdown as 'out of an abundance of caution' and canceled all Warwick activities for the day and evening
Police recovered a backpack containing an airsoft gun and a black pellet rifle but did not locate the person during the lockdown
Warwick Police arrested 41-year-old Nathan Randall on a firearms charge two days later, on April 9, 2026
Outcome
All classes and activities on the Warwick campus were canceled for the rest of the day. Police recovered a backpack with an airsoft gun and a black pellet rifle but did not locate the person during the lockdown; on April 9, Warwick Police arrested 41-year-old Nathan Randall on a firearms charge.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Suspicious person prompts lockdown, canceled classes at R.I. college - Boston.com
    boston.com
  2. News
    CCRI Warwick campus lockdown lifted after report of possible armed person - NBC Boston
    nbcboston.com
  3. News
    Police searching for person of interest after lockdown at CCRI's Warwick campus - WPRI
    wpri.com
  4. News
    Warwick police arrest man in connection with lockdown at CCRI Warwick campus - WJAR
    turnto10.com
Tags
armed-personlockdownrhode-islandcommunity-collegewarwickpellet-rifleemergency-notification
Added May 2026Updated June 2026Via ingestion