Campus Alert Archive
MSUB

An Anonymous Crime Stoppers Tip and a Verbatim Verdict: 'A Threat Has Been Made That May Impact Your Safety'

MTthreat of violenceemergency notificationhigh confidence
UnfoundedNo evidence of an actual threat was found. The institutional response is documented because the alert communication is identical to what would occur during a real incident.

On the morning of April 2, 2024, Montana State University Billings and its City College locked down after an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip claimed an enrolled student had made online shooting threats. The emergency text — 'EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION: THIS IS NOT A TEST. Shelter in place.' — went out at 9:05 a.m. MDT.

Alerts
2
Response
19 min
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Montana State University Billings
Public Masters · MT
~4,100 studentsMSUB Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 2 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Verified verbatimKTVQ Q2 News reporting verbatim from MSUB emergency text238 chars
EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION: THIS IS NOT A TEST. Shelter in place. A threat has been made that may impact your safety. A lock down is in place. Updates will be provided as conditions warrant. Visit msubillings.edu or check email for more info.
Sent at 9:05 a.m. MDT on April 2, 2024 to both the main MSUB campus and City College campus
Triggered by an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip received at 8:46 a.m. MDT, with no clear target or location specified
The 'THIS IS NOT A TEST' framing is standard MSUB protocol because the system runs frequent scheduled tests
ALL CLEARSMS
Verified verbatimKULR-8 reporting verbatim from MSUB all-clear69 chars
MSUB ALERT: The lockdown and shelter in place is no longer in effect.
Issued after Billings Police located the named suspect off-campus and detained the individual
MSUB Police said this was an 'error in the messaging system' and that there was never an active shooter or onsite threat
The named individual was not found on campus; police said the threat was online-only and not credible to MSUB
Context

Background

On Tuesday morning, April 2, 2024, Montana State University Billings and its City College campus initiated a coordinated lockdown after University Police received an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip at approximately 8:46 a.m. MDT alleging that a student believed to be enrolled at MSUB had posted online threats of committing a shooting. With no specific target or location named in the tip, both campuses were placed in lockdown at 9:05 a.m. MDT 'out of an abundance of caution.' Billings Police, MSUB Police, and Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office Deputies responded; investigators located the named suspect off-campus and detained the individual before clearing the campuses. MSUB later said the messaging-system response was an 'error' in that the threat did not actually impact campus, but the lockdown was triggered conservatively because no target was specified. The incident illustrated how the standard 'THIS IS NOT A TEST' opening — required because MSUB tests its emergency notification system frequently — frames every real alert.
Analysis

Key Findings

MSUB's verbatim alert text leads with 'THIS IS NOT A TEST' because the system runs frequent scheduled tests
The lockdown was triggered by an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip with no specified target or location
Police later detained the named individual off-campus; no weapon was recovered and the threat was deemed not credible to MSUB
Outcome
Billings Police located the named individual off-campus and detained the suspect. No weapon was found, no shots were fired, and the lockdown was lifted later that morning. University officials called the messaging system response an 'error' that was triggered cautiously.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Online threat directed at MSU-Billings investigated (KTVQ Q2)
    ktvq.com
  2. News
    MSUB lifts lockdown and shelter-in-place after shooting threat (KULR-8)
    kulr8.com
  3. News
    Online threat directed at MSU-Billings investigated (KPAX)
    kpax.com
  4. Official
    University Police Emergency Notifications (MSU Billings)
    msubillings.edu
Tags
threat-of-violenceonline-threatmontanabillingslockdownshelter-in-placeanonymous-tippublic-mastersUnfounded
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion