Campus Alert Archive
STLCC

A Community College Sheltered as a School Shooting Unfolded Across the City

MOshelter in placeemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On the morning of October 24, 2022, St. Louis Community College's Forest Park campus went on lockdown 'due to an emergency' nearby, with the lockdown lifted around 8:45 a.m. CDT. The morning coincided with a fatal shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School on the city's south side, where a former student killed a teacher and a student before being killed by police. The community-college lockdown was a precautionary response amid the citywide alarm.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
St. Louis Community College–Forest Park
Community College · MO
~6,000 studentsSTLCC Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 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 ALERTTwitter/X
Verified verbatimSTLCC-Forest Park official Twitter/X account (@STLCCForestPark), tweet posted at 8:11 a.m. CDT on October 24, 2022, as reported by FOX 2 St. Louis259 chars
#STLCCALERT: STLCC-Forest Park is on lockdown due to an emergency nearby. If you are on campus, please shelter in place and follow instructions from campus officials. If you're on your way to campus, we ask that you turn around and go home for the time being.
Verbatim from the @STLCCForestPark Twitter/X account, posted at 8:11 a.m. CDT on October 24, 2022 as confirmed by FOX 2 St. Louis coverage.
The #STLCCALERT hashtag prefix was the college's standard alert signifier on social media.
The notice did not name the off-campus shooting, framing the situation only as a nearby 'emergency' — a common pattern when the threat is adjacent rather than on campus.
The alert explicitly addressed two groups: people already on campus (shelter in place) and people en route (turn around) — a two-audience instruction format.
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstruction71 chars
The lockdown at STLCC-Forest Park has been lifted. The campus is clear.

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

Reconstructed paraphrase: the St. Louis American reported the lockdown was lifted around 8:45 a.m. CDT, but did not quote the all-clear text, so this is marked unconfirmed.
Context

Background

On October 24, 2022, a former student entered Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in St. Louis and opened fire, killing a teacher and a 15- or 16-year-old student before he was killed by responding officers. Amid the citywide emergency, St. Louis Community College's Forest Park campus, several miles north of the high school, went on lockdown 'due to an emergency' and then lifted it around 8:45 a.m. CDT. The college's precautionary shelter shows how a K-12 shooting can ripple outward, prompting nearby higher-education campuses to lock down even when the threat is not on their own property. STLCC also maintains formal lockdown procedures for exactly this kind of external threat.
Analysis

Key Findings

The Forest Park lockdown was a precautionary response to an off-campus emergency — the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School shooting — not an on-campus threat
The lockdown was relatively brief, lifting around 8:45 a.m. CDT the same morning
The alert framed the situation only as a nearby 'emergency,' a common approach when the actual incident is adjacent to but not on campus
Outcome
No injuries on the STLCC campus. The lockdown was lifted around 8:45 a.m. CDT. The broader emergency that morning was the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School shooting, in which a 16-year-old student and a teacher were killed and the gunman died after a shootout with police.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Lockdown at STLCC Forest Park campus
    stlamerican.com
  2. News
    STLCC Forest Park campus briefly on lockdown (FOX 2 St. Louis)
    fox2now.com
  3. Source
    Central Visual and Performing Arts High School shooting
    en.wikipedia.org
  4. Official
    STLCC Emergency Procedures — Lock Down
    stlcc.edu
Tags
shelter-in-placelockdownmissouricommunity-collegespilloveremergency-notification
Added May 2026Updated June 2026Via ingestion