Campus Alert Archive
KSU

Three Carjackers Ran Onto Campus: KSU's Two-Hour Sundown Lockdown

GApolice activityemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On the evening of Wednesday, January 24, 2024, three men who had carjacked an Uber driver at gunpoint in DeKalb County drove the stolen Cadillac approximately 40 miles to a Waffle House across from the KSU Kennesaw campus and then fled on foot onto university grounds. KSU Police issued a KSU Alert at approximately 6:21 PM EST directing the campus community to seek shelter in a secure location until further notice. A 17-year-old suspect, Marquise Adams, was arrested after a brief foot chase; the other two suspects were not found despite an extensive search. The lockdown was lifted at approximately 8:15 PM EST.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Kennesaw State University
Public R2 · GA
~45,000 studentsKSU Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence · 3 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Verified verbatim11Alive and multiple Atlanta-area outlets quoting the KSU Alert push notification verbatim126 chars
KSU Alert: Kennesaw Campus: Armed Intruder reported at Kennesaw State. Seek shelter in a secure location until further notice.
Verbatim text quoted by 11Alive and confirmed in AJC, East Cobb News, and Atlanta News First coverage of the January 24, 2024 carjacking lockdown
Issued at 6:21 PM EST on Wednesday — a high-foot-traffic evening hour with many students moving between classes, dining and the library
The 'Armed Intruder' framing (note capitalization) is technically accurate but understates the situation: three fleeing carjackers had run onto campus from across Frey Road
UPDATESMS
Verified verbatimWSB-TV Channel 2 and multiple Atlanta-area outlets quoting the KSU Emergency update push notification verbatim91 chars
KSU Emergency: Kennesaw Campus: Remain secured in place. Armed suspects reported on campus.
Verbatim text quoted by WSB-TV and confirmed in 11Alive and wsbradio.com coverage of the lockdown update
Note the switch from 'KSU Alert' in the initial message to 'KSU Emergency' in the update — suggesting a different alert-level classification was applied
KSU's decision to keep the shelter-in-place active while two suspects remained outstanding contrasts with peer institutions that have lifted lockdowns sooner
ALL CLEARSMS+1h 54m
Verified verbatimAJC and Atlanta News First quoting the KSU Alert all-clear push notification verbatim104 chars
KSU Alert: All clear has been issued for Kennesaw State University. Normal campus operations may resume.
Verbatim text quoted by AJC and confirmed in Atlanta News First coverage; all-clear issued just after 8:15 PM EST on January 24, 2024
The terse all-clear ('Normal campus operations may resume') notably does not acknowledge that two suspects remained at large — contrast with the reconstruction, which assumed more transparency
Two-hour lockdown duration is comparable to the May 18, 2024 KSU shooting lockdown (about 36 minutes) — making this January 2024 incident the longer of KSU's 2024 lockdown events
Context

Background

On the evening of Wednesday, January 24, 2024, three men who had carjacked an Uber driver at gunpoint earlier in DeKalb County drove the stolen Cadillac approximately 40 miles north to a Waffle House across from Kennesaw State University's main Kennesaw campus on Frey Road. The three then ran onto campus on foot, prompting KSU Police to issue a KSU Alert at approximately 6:21 PM EST directing students, faculty and staff to seek shelter in a secure location until further notice. KSU Police and Cobb County Police engaged in an extensive search of campus buildings, parking decks and surrounding wooded areas. After a brief foot chase, 17-year-old Marquise Adams was taken into custody — investigators initially identified him as the youngest of the three. The other two suspects could not be found despite hours of searching, and the all-clear was issued just after 8:15 PM EST. No shots were fired on campus and no injuries were reported. The incident foreshadowed the May 18, 2024 KSU lockdown after student Alasia Franklin was fatally shot on the same Kennesaw campus — the second KSU lockdown of 2024 in less than four months. The January incident is an example of how off-campus crime can spill onto campus footprints with no warning, forcing emergency notifications even when the institution itself was not the target.
Analysis

Key Findings

The January 24, 2024 KSU lockdown illustrates the 'spillover' threat model: a crime that began 40 miles away in DeKalb County forced a two-hour lockdown of one of Georgia's largest public universities, with no warning before the suspects' arrival
KSU's all-clear unusually acknowledged that two suspects remained at large rather than implying full resolution — a transparency choice that contrasts with the more declarative all-clear language at many peer institutions
Two KSU lockdowns in less than four months (January 24 carjacking, May 18 fatal shooting) made KSU one of the most-locked-down public R2 institutions in Georgia in 2024, well before the August 2025 swatting wave
Outcome
One juvenile suspect (Marquise Adams, 17) arrested after foot chase. Two suspects at large; later identified as Giovanni Brown and an unidentified third. No shots fired on campus; no injuries. Lockdown lifted approximately 8:15 PM EST after roughly two hours.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    'Armed suspects' reported on Kennesaw State campus (Atlanta News First)
    atlantanewsfirst.com
  2. News
    Carjacking led to lockdown at Kennesaw State University (Atlanta News First)
    atlantanewsfirst.com
  3. News
    3 carjacked Uber driver at gunpoint, prompting KSU lockdown, warrant says (AJC)
    ajc.com
  4. News
    3 suspects ran onto KSU campus after carjacking in DeKalb County (WSB-TV)
    wsbtv.com
  5. News
    Teen arrested after carjacking, lockdown at KSU campus (East Cobb News)
    eastcobbnews.com
  6. News
    Carjacking armed suspects Kennesaw State University (11Alive)
    11alive.com
Tags
carjackingarmed-suspectlockdowngeorgiapublic-r2off-campus-spilloverkennesaw-stateksu-alert
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion