Campus Alert Archive
KU

35 Minutes Near Memorial Stadium: A Car Chase, a Discarded Backpack, a BB Gun

KSarmed personemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On Friday, April 1, 2022, the University of Kansas issued an alert around 1:20 p.m. that a possibly armed person had been spotted near Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, advising people to avoid the area. The episode began when a Douglas County deputy tried to stop a green Honda Accord over a turn-signal violation; the driver fled, two suspects abandoned the car and ran, and deputies later found a BB gun in a discarded backpack. KU posted an all-clear at 1:55 p.m.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
University of Kansas
Public R1 · KS
KU Alerts
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 ALERTSMS
Verified verbatimUniversity Daily Kansan, quoting the verbatim KU Alert text issued at approximately 1:20 PM CDT on April 1, 2022101 chars
KU ALERT: Possible armed suspect reported near Memorial Stadium. Avoid the area until further notice.
Verbatim KU Alert as quoted in the University Daily Kansan, issued around 1:20 p.m. CDT on April 1, 2022
All-caps 'KU ALERT' prefix distinguishes this from the mixed-case 'KU Alert:' formatting seen in some other systems
Alert stemmed not from a campus shooting but from a fleeing vehicle pursuit that spilled onto campus property near W Campus Road
Exact location — Memorial Stadium — gives students a precise landmark to avoid in a compact campus grid
ALL CLEARSMS+35 min
Approximate reconstruction114 chars
KU Alert: There is no longer a threat to campus. You may resume normal operations. Thank you for your cooperation.

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

KU posted the all-clear at 1:55 p.m. CDT on April 1, 2022, 35 minutes after the initial alert.
This is a true all-clear: it explicitly stated there was no longer a threat and that normal operations could resume.
Deputies recovered only a BB gun, illustrating how an initial 'armed person' alert can resolve to a non-firearm outcome.
Context

Background

The April 1, 2022 alert at the University of Kansas (Lawrence is in Central Time) was triggered by a law-enforcement pursuit rather than a campus-originated threat. According to WIBW, KU issued the alert around 1:20 p.m. that a possibly armed person was near Memorial Stadium. KSHB reported the Douglas County Sheriff's Office had tried to stop a green Honda Accord near 10th and Missouri for a turn-signal violation; the driver sped off, ran a stop sign, and the occupants abandoned the car in the 1300 block of W Campus Road and fled. Deputies found a BB gun in a discarded backpack but no other weapons, and KU posted an update at 1:55 p.m. that there was no longer a threat. Two 29-year-old Lawrence men were booked on outstanding warrants. The case shows how an off-campus vehicle pursuit can briefly trigger a full KU Alert emergency notification.
Analysis

Key Findings

KU issued a possible-armed-person alert near Memorial Stadium around 1:20 p.m. CDT on April 1, 2022
The trigger was a fleeing-vehicle pursuit that spilled onto campus, not a campus-originated threat
Deputies recovered only a BB gun in a discarded backpack; no firearm was found
KU declared no further threat at 1:55 p.m. CDT, 35 minutes after the first alert
Outcome
Deputies found only a BB gun in a discarded backpack and no other weapons. Two 29-year-old Lawrence men were booked into the Douglas County Jail on outstanding warrants. KU declared no further threat at 1:55 p.m.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    UPDATE: KU says no longer any threat to campus - WIBW
    wibw.com
  2. News
    KU's campus resumes operations following possible armed suspect - KSHB
    kshb.com
  3. Official
    KU Alerts
    alerts.ku.edu
Tags
armed-personemergency-notificationkansasmemorial-stadiumvehicle-pursuitbb-gunavoid-the-area
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion