Campus Alert Archive
UCA

A Fifteen-Minute Shelter-in-Place After Gunfire Just East of UCA

ARshootingemergency notificationmedium confidence
Under Investigation

On the afternoon of July 18, 2018, the University of Central Arkansas in Conway briefly asked people on campus to shelter in place after a report of gunfire at the College Park Apartments on South Donaghey Avenue, just east of campus, around 3:11 PM CDT. Police found shell casings but no evidence anyone was injured, and normal conditions resumed about 15 minutes later.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
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Institution
University of Central Arkansas
Public Masters · AR
~10,000 studentsUCA Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 2 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTTwitter/X
Verified verbatimKATV (ABC Little Rock) directly quotes this as the verbatim UCAPD tweet (@UCAPoliceDept) posted at approximately 3:27 PM CDT on July 18, 2018, confirmed also by FOX16140 chars
*UCAAlert* SHELTER IN PLACE #UCA PD responding to serious incident. Call 911 to report suspicious persons or activity. Wait to further info.
Verbatim text confirmed: KATV and FOX16 both quote this exact UCAPD tweet posted at approximately 3:27 PM CDT on July 18, 2018.
The asterisks around *UCAAlert* are part of the tweet's text as it appeared on Twitter -- a common convention used by the account to visually flag alert messages.
The gunfire that prompted the alert was reported around 3:11 p.m. CDT at College Park Apartments on South Donaghey Avenue, just east of campus.
ALL CLEARTwitter/X
Verified verbatimFOX16 (KLRT Little Rock) directly quotes this as the verbatim UCAPD all-clear tweet posted at approximately 3:43 PM CDT on July 18, 2018, confirmed also by KATV53 chars
*UCAAlert* #UCA is operating under normal conditions.
Verbatim text confirmed: FOX16 and KATV both quote this exact UCAPD all-clear tweet posted at approximately 3:43 PM CDT on July 18, 2018, about 15 minutes after the initial shelter-in-place.
At 15 words, this is one of the most concise campus all-clears in the archive -- the channel and formatting conventions of Twitter force maximum economy.
Qualifies as a genuine all-clear: the return to 'normal conditions' implicitly lifts the shelter-in-place directive from the initial tweet.
Context

Background

The University of Central Arkansas is a master's-granting public university in Conway (Central Time). On July 18, 2018, a report of gunfire around 3:11 PM CDT at the College Park Apartments on South Donaghey Avenue, just east of campus, prompted UCA to ask people on campus to shelter in place. The UCA police department tweeted at 3:27 p.m. CDT that it was 'responding to a serious incident,' and about 15 minutes later said normal conditions had resumed. Officers found shell casings but no evidence anyone was injured; police later determined the gunfire was directed at a 21-year-old man who had robbed the suspected shooters of drugs months earlier. This is distinct from UCA's better-known October 2008 on-campus double homicide. Both the initial shelter-in-place tweet and the all-clear tweet were quoted verbatim by KATV and FOX16 and are confirmed in this archive.
Analysis

Key Findings

A report of gunfire at College Park Apartments just east of UCA around 3:11 PM CDT on July 18, 2018 prompted a campus shelter-in-place
UCA police tweeted at 3:27 p.m. CDT that they were 'responding to a serious incident' and lifted the shelter about 15 minutes later
Officers found shell casings but no evidence anyone was injured; the gunfire was directed at a man over an earlier drug robbery
The brief, off-campus-driven shelter-in-place is separate from UCA's fatal October 2008 on-campus shooting
Outcome
Police found bullet casings at the apartment complex but no evidence anyone had been hurt. UCA's shelter-in-place was lifted about 15 minutes later when police said normal conditions had resumed. Investigators determined the gunfire was directed at a man over an earlier drug robbery.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Police: Gunfire that prompted lockdown of UCA in Conway was directed at man who stole drugs - Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
    arkansasonline.com
  2. News
    Police investigating shots fired at apartment complex near UCA campus - THV11
    thv11.com
  3. News
    Safety warning issued after gunfire reported near University of Central Arkansas - KATV
    katv.com
  4. News
    Update: UCA Campus Alert Canceled - FOX16 (KLRT)
    fox16.com
Tags
shots-firedshelter-in-placeemergency-notificationarkansasoff-campusgunUnder Investigation
Added May 2026Updated June 2026Via ingestion