Campus Alert Archive
CWU

Three Shots in a Jack in the Box Parking Lot: How CWU's Lunchtime Lockdown Became a Manhunt

WAshootingemergency notificationhigh confidence
Confirmed Threat

21-year-old Christian Guthrie was shot and killed in the Jack in the Box parking lot at University Way and N. Main Street near the CWU campus around 12:15 PM PDT on March 15, 2024. CWU Alert pushed a shelter-in-place at 1:18 PM PDT — roughly an hour after the shots — describing a suspect at-large in a purple hoodie. The order was lifted at 2:59 PM PDT. The teenage suspect was arrested in August 2024 after being on the run for nearly five months.

Alerts
3
Response
63 min
Killed
1
Injured
0
Institution
Central Washington University
Public Masters · WA
~10,500 studentsRaveCWU Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 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 verbatimApple Valley News screenshot of CWU website alert banner104 chars
Shots fired near campus Friday at 12:15 p.m. Suspect is at-large. Shelter in place until further notice.
Sent approximately 63 minutes after the 12:15 PM PDT shots — a delay later attributed to the time required to confirm the incident location was off-campus and decide on shelter-in-place scope
The phrasing 'near campus' is significant: the shooting occurred in a Jack in the Box parking lot at University Way and N. Main, about a block from the CWU boundary, but CWU still issued a shelter directive given the suspect was on foot
Including the original 12:15 PM time of the gunfire is unusual — most campus alerts give only the issue time, but CWU made the temporal gap explicit
UPDATESMS
Approximate reconstruction155 chars
CWU Alert: Suspect described as a male in a purple hoodie. Continue to shelter in place. Avoid the area of University Way and N. Main. Updates will follow.

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

Multiple Seattle-area outlets reported that CWU Alert relayed Ellensburg PD's suspect description: a male in a purple hoodie running from the parking lot
The instruction to avoid 'University Way and N. Main' specifically delineates the suspect's last known location, allowing students elsewhere on the 380-acre campus to interpret the threat geographically
ALL CLEARSMS+1h 41m
Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from CWU Emergency Response Update news release196 chars
CWU Alert: Shelter-in-place is lifted. Suspect believed to have left the immediate area. Avoid University Way and N. Main while police investigate. Counseling resources are available through SHCC.

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

The all-clear came at 2:59 PM PDT, exactly 101 minutes after the initial alert and 164 minutes after the shooting
Lifting shelter-in-place while the suspect was still at-large is unusual; CWU's basis was the police belief that the suspect had fled the area on foot rather than remaining nearby
Direct mention of Student Health and Counseling Center (SHCC) resources reflects standard CWU practice of pairing all-clears with mental health follow-through
Context

Background

The shooting at the Jack in the Box parking lot at University Way and N. Main Street is one of the most consequential off-campus violent incidents to affect CWU since the university adopted Rave-based alerting. A witness eating inside the restaurant told KIRO 7 he heard three shots in quick succession and saw the suspect running across the lot with a gun. Christian Guthrie was struck multiple times and died at the scene. Because the incident occurred just outside CWU's perimeter and the suspect fled on foot, the university issued a shelter-in-place — a decision later defended by Ellensburg PD as appropriate given the unknown direction of escape. The 63-minute lag between gunfire and first alert drew scrutiny, but the university maintained that initial dispatch reports were ambiguous about whether shots had been fired on or near campus. The teenage suspect, whose identity was withheld due to age, eluded capture for nearly five months before being arrested in August 2024.
Analysis

Key Findings

The 63-minute gap between gunfire and the first CWU Alert reflects the friction between off-campus dispatch reports and university notification thresholds
CWU lifted shelter-in-place while the suspect was still at-large, basing the decision on Ellensburg PD's assessment that he had fled the immediate area
The suspect was a teenager who remained on the run for nearly five months before being arrested in August 2024
The shooting occurred at the Jack in the Box at University Way and N. Main, a perennial after-class lunch spot a block from campus
Outcome
Christian Guthrie, 21, of Ellensburg died at the scene. The teenage suspect fled and remained at large for nearly five months before being arrested. CWU's shelter-in-place was lifted at 2:59 PM PDT after Ellensburg PD believed the suspect had left the immediate vicinity.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    One dead after shots fired near Central Washington University
    kiro7.com
  2. News
    Ellensburg shooting: 1 killed in shooting near Central Washington University campus
    fox13seattle.com
  3. News
    Suspect in fatal shooting in Ellensburg shooting still at large
    king5.com
  4. Official
    Emergency Response Update | Central Washington University
    cwu.edu
  5. News
    Teen on the run for fatal shooting near CWU campus arrested
    applevalleynewsnow.com
Tags
shootingoff-campusshelter-in-placehomicidefugitiveellensburgwashingtonpublic-masters
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion