Campus Alert Archive
UMW

'SHELTER IN PLACE-UMW Police Emergency': A 3:30 AM Alert as a Breaking-and-Entering Suspect Tracked Onto Campus

VApolice activityemergency notificationhigh confidence
Confirmed Threat

At approximately 1:39 AM EDT on April 28, 2018, a Fredericksburg resident at Greenbriar Apartments reported being beaten and tied up by a man he knew. A Fredericksburg city officer spotted a person matching the suspect's description at College Avenue and William Street, and the man fled onto the University of Mary Washington campus. UMW issued the first emergency alert at 3:32 AM EDT — 'SHELTER IN PLACE-UMW Police Emergency' — beginning a campus-wide lockdown that lasted until the suspect was apprehended off campus.

Alerts
3
Response
min
Killed
0
Injured
1
Institution
University of Mary Washington
Public Masters · VA
~4,900 studentsEANS
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 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 verbatimThe Free Lance-Star quoting the verbatim UMW EANS text38 chars
SHELTER IN PLACE-UMW Police Emergency.
Sent at approximately 3:32 AM EDT, roughly 1 hour 53 minutes after the initial 1:39 AM EDT victim call to Fredericksburg police — the delay reflects the time required to track the suspect from Greenbriar Apartments to the campus and then confirm he had entered campus property
The message is extraordinarily terse — 38 characters — relying on UMW's all-caps formatting and the explicit phrase 'UMW Police Emergency' to convey severity rather than situational detail
No suspect description or building is named in the initial alert; subsequent EANS messages provided that detail
UPDATESMS
Approximate reconstruction178 chars
UMW Police Emergency: Suspect possibly armed, last seen running onto campus from College Ave/William St area. Continue to shelter in place. Lock doors and stay away from windows.

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

Multiple Fredericksburg-area outlets reported that follow-up alerts noted the suspect was 'possibly armed' and had been 'seen running onto campus' — language that escalated the severity of the initial terse alert
The directive 'Lock doors and stay away from windows' is standard UMW EANS shelter-in-place language
ALL CLEARSMS+46 min
Approximate reconstruction150 chars
UMW Police Emergency Lifted: Shelter in place is no longer in effect. Police are still searching for the suspect off campus. Resume normal activities.

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

The Free Lance-Star coverage initially used 'discontinued at 4:18 p.m.' but the surrounding context confirms this was 4:18 AM EDT — the entire lockdown happened in the early-morning hours
About one hour after the all-clear, Dajuan Blake Chambers was arrested by Spotsylvania Sheriff's deputies at the Econo Lodge hotel on U.S. 1, ending the search
Context

Background

The University of Mary Washington is a public master's university in Fredericksburg, Virginia with an enrollment of approximately 4,900 students. Its main campus is bordered on the west by College Avenue and is highly permeable to the surrounding city. At approximately 1:39 AM EDT on April 28, 2018, Fredericksburg police received a call from a 21-year-old resident of Greenbriar Apartments who said he had been beaten and tied up by a man he knew, who had then fled with personal items. A Fredericksburg city officer spotted an individual matching the suspect's description at the intersection of College Avenue and William Street; when approached, the man ran onto the UMW campus. The university's Emergency Alert and Notification System issued the first SHELTER IN PLACE message at 3:32 AM EDT. The shelter-in-place was lifted at 4:18 AM EDT after police confirmed the suspect had left campus, and approximately one hour later, 24-year-old Dajuan Blake Chambers was arrested at the Econo Lodge hotel on U.S. 1 in Spotsylvania County. Chambers, who was not a UMW student, faced charges including abduction, malicious wounding, grand larceny, bad checks, and obtaining money under false pretenses across both Spotsylvania and Fredericksburg jurisdictions. The case is significant as a documented example of how UMW's EANS system handles a breaking-and-entering suspect tracked onto a permeable campus — a scenario distinct from active-shooter or weather emergencies and requiring rapid coordination with off-campus law enforcement.
Analysis

Key Findings

UMW's first SHELTER IN PLACE alert at 3:32 AM EDT was extraordinarily terse — only 38 characters — relying on the phrase 'UMW Police Emergency' to convey severity
The alert went out approximately 1 hour 53 minutes after the initial 1:39 AM EDT victim call to Fredericksburg police, reflecting the time required to confirm the suspect had crossed onto campus property
The suspect, Dajuan Blake Chambers, had no connection to UMW — the campus was used as a flight path through downtown Fredericksburg
The shelter-in-place lasted approximately 46 minutes (3:32 AM to 4:18 AM EDT), demonstrating UMW's willingness to issue and quickly lift directives when the threat had moved off campus
Outcome
The shelter-in-place was lifted at approximately 4:18 AM EDT after Fredericksburg police determined the suspect had left campus. Approximately one hour later, 24-year-old Dajuan Blake Chambers was arrested by Spotsylvania Sheriff's deputies at the Econo Lodge hotel on U.S. 1. Chambers was not a UMW student and police said he had no connection to the university beyond running through it. Chambers faced charges from both Spotsylvania and Fredericksburg, including abduction, malicious wounding, grand larceny, bad checks, and obtaining money under false pretenses.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Suspect found in Spotsylvania after city beating led to UMW lockdown (The Free Lance-Star)
    fredericksburg.com
  2. News
    BREAKING NEWS: Shelter-in-Place Issued for University of Mary Washington Campus (Fredericksburg Advance)
    fxbgadvance.com
  3. Official
    UMW Emergency Notification Systems (EANS) - Emergency Management and Safety
    students.umw.edu
  4. Official
    Warnings & Alerts Archives - UMW Police
    umw.edu
Tags
police-activityshelter-in-placevirginiaumwmary-washingtonfredericksburgbreaking-and-enteringoff-campus-suspectverbatim-confirmedearly-morning-alertpublic-masterspermeable-campus
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion