Campus Alert Archive
Jeff State

A Machete on the MAX Bus and a Shelter Order at the Lurleen Wallace Building

ALpolice activityemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On the morning of May 8, 2019, a Jefferson State Community College police officer shot a man wielding a machete on the Carson Road campus in Birmingham after the man arrived by city bus and refused to drop the weapon. The college told students to shelter as the danger was identified near the Lurleen Wallace Building, and the man was taken to UAB Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
1
Institution
Jefferson State Community College
Community College · AL
~8,000 studentsJSCC Alert
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 ALERTFacebook
Verified verbatimCBS42 (Birmingham) and Trussville Tribune quote this as the verbatim Jefferson State Facebook post issued just before 9:00 AM CDT on May 8, 2019131 chars
Danger identified at the Jefferson Campus! Seek immediate shelter in classrooms or offices! Remain inside until all clear is given.
Verbatim text confirmed: CBS42 (Birmingham) and the Trussville Tribune both quote this as the exact text of the Jefferson State Facebook post issued just before 9:00 AM CDT on May 8, 2019.
The alert was posted to Facebook rather than sent as an SMS -- a common channel for community colleges that have active social media followings but may not have all students enrolled in text alert systems.
The phrasing 'Danger identified at the Jefferson Campus' (without specifying a building) is broader than the subsequent news coverage that located the incident near the Lurleen Wallace Building and its parking lot.
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstruction161 chars
JSCC ALERT: The Jefferson Campus is secure. There is no further danger. Normal operations will resume. Counseling resources are available for students and staff.

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

By the time of the all-clear the single subject had been shot and removed by ambulance, so there was no outstanding threat to lift beyond confirming the scene was secure.
Reconstructed wording; the precise all-clear text was not preserved in coverage, so isVerbatimConfirmed is false.
Context

Background

Carson Road is Jefferson State's main Birmingham campus. According to WBRC, an altercation involving an 'edged weapon' led to an officer-involved shooting on the morning of May 8, 2019. A bus driver alerted police that a man was riding a Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority (MAX) bus with a machete; when the bus stopped in a campus parking lot, the man got off still carrying the weapon and was confronted by a campus officer. Patch reported the college told students to seek shelter after danger was identified near the Lurleen Wallace Building. The Trussville Tribune reported the man was taken to UAB Hospital with life-threatening injuries; the case was handed to the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation. The episode illustrates how a community college with an armed campus police force handled a fast-moving, weapon-in-hand encounter that began on public transit and ended in its own parking lot.
Analysis

Key Findings

The threat arrived by public transit: a MAX bus driver radioed ahead before the man, carrying a machete, exited at a Jefferson State parking lot
Jefferson State's emergency notification was a shelter order keyed to a specific building (Lurleen Wallace), not a campus-wide active-shooter alert
The only person injured was the subject himself, shot by a campus police officer; no students or staff were hurt
Because it was an officer-involved shooting, jurisdiction passed to the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation rather than the campus department
Outcome
The man was transported to UAB Hospital with life-threatening injuries and later died; the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation took over the officer-involved shooting investigation. No students or staff were hurt.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Altercation involving 'edged weapon' leads to officer-involved shooting at Jefferson State - WBRC
    wbrc.com
  2. News
    Jeff State Police Shoot Man Carrying Machete On Campus - Patch
    patch.com
  3. Source
    Machete-Wielding Man Shot by Jefferson State Campus Police - Campus Safety Magazine
    campussafetymagazine.com
  4. News
    Police: 1 man shot at Jefferson State Community College after brandishing a machete - The Trussville Tribune
    trussvilletribune.com
Tags
officer-involved-shootingedged-weaponmacheteshelter-in-placealabamacommunity-collegebirmingham
Added May 2026Updated June 2026Via ingestion