On April 11, the Case Western Reserve University community experienced a campus-wide shelter-in-place alert. At 8:19 p.m., text messages went out to the campus advising the community to “find a safe location” if outdoors and informing receivers that all buildings will require a CWRU ID for access. This message was soon followed by a call from the university’s Rave alert system, reiterating the instructions for the community to shelter in place. 

At the time of the initial alert, there was no information given about the situation, only the information advising the community on actions they should take. 

Other students failed to take the alert seriously, assuming it was weather-related, and continued walking around campus despite the alert. Many students also began to speculate in group chats and on social media, hoping to get further information from their peers on the situation.

One student who was at a club event at the time of the alert said, “One of my friends stated that she heard that it was a tornado warning. Because of that, we thought it was okay to just go. In fact, my friends left the building and actually started walking to their Southside dorms before the second alert came in.”
A follow-up text eight minutes later described the situation very bluntly: “Armed individual reported in Michelson House.”

About twenty minutes after the initial alert, the campus community was informed of the detainment of an intruder, unaffiliated with CWRU, on the south side of campus and that there was an ongoing police investigation. Updates persisted in roughly 15-minute intervals via text message until the CWRU Division of Public Safety issued an “all-clear” for the campus. Throughout the time of the alert, Saferide and shuttle services went down.

A resident of Michelson House, Resident A, recalled their first reactions to receiving the alert. “When I first got the alert, my mind jumped to there being a shooter of some sort, but I figured it was in relation to the hospitals. I saw some cops in the parking lot, but the car’s lights weren’t on and they weren’t running, so I figured it was nothing,” they said. 

Resident A continued, “I was surprised when I saw Michelson named in the alert, because I hadn’t heard anything in the building. In different group chats, people had been saying there was something going on near top of the hill, but I was shocked it was my building. Then, obviously, I was scared because I had no information on the gravity of the situation.”

Another resident of Michelson House, Resident B, who lives on the floor where the intruder hid, recounted their experience.

“I heard the police in the hallway of Michelson before the second alert went out. They identified themselves as the Cleveland Heights Police, and not CWRU PD. That was the first sign that something was off in Michelson, and then the alert on my phone confirmed it. I had no idea whether or not we were in danger, so my roommates and I all hid as far from the door as possible,” they said.

In an email sent out to the campus community the day after the incident, CWRU clarified the events of the preceding night. A motor vehicle accident on Cedar Road resulted in four juveniles armed with firearms and “possibly a hammer” fleeing the scene. According to Cleveland Heights Mayor Kahlil Seren, the crash took place at 7:23 p.m., with one of the vehicles involved being stolen.

One of the juveniles was detained by Cleveland Heights Police, but CWRU PD was requested to help find the remaining three subjects. At 8:18 p.m., police dispatchers were notified of a suspect tailgating a CWRU student into Michelson. This observation came from drone footage, part of a relatively new “Drone Unit” established by the Division of Public Safety at the start of this academic year with seven police officers. 

By 8:27 p.m., the suspect, found to be unarmed, had been located in the janitor’s closet and detained. Videos and photos posted to social media show one individual being led out of Glaser House by police. According to police scanners, the subject requested that an ambulance meet him, citing back pains.

After locating the suspect in Michelson House, Michelson, Kusch, Glaser, Mary Chilton Noyes, and John Sykes Fayette Houses were cleared. By 9:28 p.m., the shelter in place order was lifted for all buildings north of Euclid Avenue, with an “all clear” message sent out to the community by 10 p.m. 

Many students caught up in the shelter in place order on the south side of campus wished more information was provided to them, specifically about where the armed threat was located. 

Resident A wished that “CWRU had provided more communication throughout.” They said, “Obviously, I know that in times of chaos, it is hard to send clear, well-informed messages, but I felt very in-the-dark. I wasn’t sure if they were evacuating the building or if CWRU police would be searching our rooms, or anything like that. I think that increased communication would have helped with that. I also wish that the first shelter-in-place would have specified Michelson—or at least top of the hill—because I saw some people outside Michelson trying to get in to shelter in place, before going to Carlton Commons.”

Other students understood the constraints of limited information but felt that the university could have responded after the all-clear was given. Student B believed that “Case did the best they could considering the circumstances. They didn’t have all the information at first but they were still pretty quick in their response. There wasn’t much support from Case for [Southside] residents after the incident, though.”

The April 12 email said that “staff members from the Division of Student Affairs were on the scene to provide support to students in Michelson House.”

When contacted for further comment, a university spokesperson referred to the CWRU Alert emails that the authors already received. They did add that “all emergency alerts are expected to be taken seriously.” The spokesperson did not provide more information on how CWRU Police used their drone or if better communication will come to ensure students are less confused for the next alert, referring to a page on the Division of Public Safety’s website regarding what to do in a given emergency.