Campus Alert Archive
Centre

Triple Murder a Quarter Mile Away: How a Pawn Shop Massacre Locked Down Danville's Liberal Arts College

KYactive threatemergency notificationmedium confidence

On Friday, September 20, 2013, three people were shot and killed in an apparent robbery at the ABC Gold, Games and More pawn shop on South Fourth Street in Danville, Kentucky -- approximately a quarter mile from Centre College. The campus erupted in simultaneous text alerts, and the college issued a shelter-in-place order as police searched for the suspect. Campus Public Safety used their notification system to send a phone call and text to students at 10:15 AM EST advising them of the double murder and lockdown. The lockdown lasted approximately two hours. Authorities quickly established that the suspect was not on the loose locally; the suspect, Kenneth Allen Keith, 48, was later arrested and charged with three counts of murder.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Centre College
Private Liberal Arts · KY
Centre Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

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
Approximate reconstruction183 chars
Centre Alert: There has been a double murder a quarter mile off campus. Campus is on lockdown. Do not leave buildings. Lock all doors. Police are on scene. Await further instructions.

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

Sent at 10:15 AM EST on September 20, 2013 via both phone call and text -- the simultaneous multi-channel alert caused all students' phones to alert at the same time, triggering immediate campus-wide awareness
The initial alert described a 'double murder' -- initial reporting counted two victims at the pawn shop; the third victim (Daniel Smith) was confirmed shortly after, raising the total to three
Centre College's campus in Danville, KY is approximately a quarter mile from the ABC Gold, Games and More pawn shop on South Fourth Street -- close enough that an armed and fleeing suspect could reach campus quickly
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstruction199 chars
Centre Alert: The campus lockdown has been lifted. Police have determined there is no ongoing threat to campus. Normal operations may resume. Continue to cooperate with law enforcement if approached.

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

All-clear came approximately two hours after the lockdown began -- authorities moved quickly once they determined the suspect had not fled toward campus and posed no imminent threat to the college community
The Manual RedEye (student newspaper of Louisville Manual High School) covered the incident because Centre College has close ties to Louisville-area students and alumni
Authorities chose not to officially call it a 'lockdown' in their public communications, recognizing early on that the suspect was not locally at large -- but the college still activated its shelter-in-place protocol as a precaution
Context

Background

On September 20, 2013, Danville, Kentucky -- a small city of about 16,000 people -- was rocked by a triple murder at the ABC Gold, Games and More pawn shop on South Fourth Street. Michael Hockensmith, 35, and his wife Angela Hockensmith, 38, operated the shop. They and a third victim, Daniel Smith, 60, of Richmond, Kentucky, were shot and killed in an apparent robbery. Kenneth Allen Keith, 48, of Burnside, Kentucky, was later charged with three counts of murder and robbery. The pawn shop was approximately a quarter mile from Centre College, a highly selective private liberal arts institution founded in 1819. At 10:15 AM EST, Campus Public Safety sent simultaneous phone calls and text messages to all students, advising them of the murders and placing the campus on lockdown. Students described all phones going off at once. The lockdown lasted approximately two hours, during which Danville police searched the area and established that the suspect had not fled toward campus. Interestingly, police did not issue an official lockdown order -- the college made the precautionary decision itself. A Centre College junior noted that students 'felt safe because of the multiple alerts' and that they didn't know many details about the murders until after the lockdown was lifted.
Analysis

Key Findings

Centre College's Campus Public Safety simultaneously used phone calls and text messages at 10:15 AM -- the simultaneous delivery created the described effect of 'all phones going off at once,' maximizing awareness speed
Police noted early that there was no confirmed threat to campus -- the college's lockdown was a precautionary decision rather than an officially mandated one, illustrating institutional agency in campus emergency response
The triple murder at a small-city pawn shop a quarter mile from campus represents the geographic proximity risk for residential liberal arts colleges embedded in small downtown districts
Outcome
Lockdown lasted approximately two hours. No Campus community members harmed. Kenneth Allen Keith of Burnside, KY was charged with three counts of murder and one count of first-degree robbery. The campus was cleared after authorities established the suspect had not fled toward campus.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Student Paper
    Centre College on brief lockdown after Danville shooting (Manual RedEye)
    manualredeye.com
  2. Source
    Triple Murder: Killed -- Angela Hockensmith (Danville, KY) (Shot in the USA blog, September 20, 2013)
    usgunviolence.wordpress.com
  3. Source
    GUILTY - KY - Three people slain in Danville pawn shop robbery, 20 Sept 2013 (Websleuths)
    websleuths.com
  4. News
    2013 interrogation of triple-murder suspect takes a strange turn (The Advocate-Messenger, 2020)
    amnews.com
Tags
lockdownoff-campustriple-murderpawn-shopkentuckydanvilleprivate-liberal-artsprecautionary-lockdown2013robbery
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion