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Campus Alert Archive
Tulane

Employee's self-inflicted shooting in a medical school building prompted a lockdown

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LAshootingemergency notificationhigh confidence
Confirmed Threat

On April 19, 2024, a Tulane University animal care technician shot himself on the 9th floor of the Hutchinson Memorial Building on the downtown campus. Officers initially responded to a report of an armed suspicious person, and the building was shut down while Tulane Police secured the scene. The first alert was issued at 7:53 AM CDT directing the community to avoid the School of Medicine.

Alerts
3
Response
Killed
0
Injured
1
Institution
Tulane University
Private R1 · LA
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Documented Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

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INITIAL ALERTPush
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UPDATEEmail+1 h
Verified verbatim971 chars
Subject: Safety Notification – INCIDENT RESOLUTION - Active Threat – Hutchinson Building Offense: Active Threat Date: April 19, 2024 Content Warning: This notification includes information pertaining to active threats and self-harm. On Friday April 19, 2024 Tulane University Police Officers responded to a report of an armed suspicious person on the 9th floor of the Hutchinson Building on the Downtown campus. Officers discovered a subject, later identified as an animal care technician, inside a laboratory. The subject subsequently shot himself and officers moved in to begin emergency medical care. The subject was transported to University Medical Center for continued care. There is no ongoing threat at this time, however the 9th floor remains an active crime scene and should be avoided until further notice. Resources are available to any Tulane community member affected by this incident. Students can call: 504-264-6074 Employees can call: 1-800-624-5544
Full official TUPD PDF from crime-alerts archive; replaces incomplete Hullabaloo paraphrase.
En-dashes and “self-harm” line break from PDF preserved as “self-harm”. Soft wraps joined.
ALL CLEARPush
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This message is documented at this point in the sequence, but its exact wording is not preserved in the public record. The public edition displays only confirmed alert text.

Context

Background

On the morning of April 19, 2024, Tulane University Police officers responded to a report of an armed suspicious person on the 9th floor of the Hutchinson Memorial Building at 1430 Tulane Avenue, the university's downtown School of Medicine campus. Officers discovered a subject, later identified as an animal care technician employed by the university, inside a laboratory. The individual subsequently shot himself, and officers moved in to provide emergency medical care. The first alert was issued at 7:53 AM CDT shutting down the Hutchinson Building and directing the community to avoid the area. An update at 8:53 AM CDT confirmed no active threat but maintained the building restriction. The building reopened around 9:00 AM CDT with the 9th floor remaining closed as an active crime scene. NOPD reported the shooting was believed to be self-inflicted, and the employee was transported to a hospital in critical condition. The Tulane Public Safety office published a safety notice classifying the incident as an active threat response.
Analysis

Key Findings

The initial report was of an armed suspicious person, triggering a building lockdown before the self-inflicted nature was confirmed
The alert sequence spanned approximately one hour from initial lockdown to the no-active-threat update
The 9th floor of the Hutchinson Building remained closed as a crime scene even after the building reopened
Outcome
The employee was transported to a hospital in critical condition. The 9th floor remained closed as an active crime scene. The building reopened around 9:00 AM CDT with continued police presence. The incident was determined to be self-inflicted, not a threat to others.
Provenance

Sources

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Cite this case

Campus Alert Archive. "Tulane University: Employee's self-inflicted shooting in a medical school building prompted a lockdown." Incident of April 19, 2024. Added April 2026; last updated July 2026. https://campusalertarchive.com/case/tulane-university-shooting-2024-04-19/

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Alert text quoted on this page remains the work of the issuing institution; the archive is a secondary source.

Tags
shootingself-inflictedmedical-schoolworkplacelouisianabuilding-lockdownprivate-university
Added April 2026Updated July 2026Via ingestion