{
  "id": "2023-02-24-lafayette-college-shots-fired-lockdown",
  "slug": "lafayette-college-shots-fired-lockdown-2023-02-24",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Lafayette College",
    "shortName": "Lafayette",
    "state": "PA",
    "type": "private-liberal-arts",
    "alertSystemName": "LafayetteAlert",
    "enrollment": 2700
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2023-02-24",
    "type": "shooting",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "headline": "Shots fired near Pearl Street triggers campus lockdown",
    "headlinePublic": "Shots fired near Pearl Street triggers campus lockdown",
    "summary": "Lafayette DPS [locked down campus after shots-fired reports near Pearl Street](https://x.com/LafayetteDPS/status/1629257152161361922) and [lifted after EPD believed the suspect fled](https://x.com/LafayetteDPS/status/1629276018350456833).",
    "outcome": "Lockdown lifted after police determined the suspect had fled away from campus and posed no continuing threat to students. A woman was shot in Easton; a person was eventually taken into custody.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 1
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "timestamp": "2023-02-24T18:09:09-05:00",
      "verbatimText": "Campus Lockdown :: Reports of shots fired near Pearl Street in Easton.  Suspect last seen red sweatshirt headed East along bushkill creek.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "confidence": "high",
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/LafayetteDPS/status/1629257152161361922",
      "sourceDescription": "@LafayetteDPS",
      "annotations": [
        "Official DPS X. Dual fetch. SPN 523.",
        "Supersedes incomplete WFMZ-only quote path."
      ],
      "characterCount": 138
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "timestamp": "2023-02-24T18:51:12-05:00",
      "verbatimText": "Update :: EPD tracking south along Delaware river. Reminder to shelter in place.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "confidence": "high",
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/LafayetteDPS/status/1629267730791636992",
      "sourceDescription": "@LafayetteDPS update",
      "annotations": [
        "Official DPS X intermediate. Dual fetch. SPN 523."
      ],
      "characterCount": 80
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "timestamp": "2023-02-24T19:24:07-05:00",
      "verbatimText": "Lockdown Lifted :: EPD believes suspect fled away from campus. Investigation continuing",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "confidence": "high",
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/LafayetteDPS/status/1629276018350456833",
      "sourceDescription": "@LafayetteDPS all-clear",
      "annotations": [
        "Official DPS X. SPN 523."
      ],
      "characterCount": 87
    }
  ],
  "context": "[Lafayette College sits on a hill above downtown Easton, Pennsylvania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafayette_College), at the confluence of the Delaware and Lehigh rivers. On the evening of Friday, February 24, 2023, Easton Police received a report of [shots fired near Pearl Street](https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/lehighvalley/lafayette-college-in-easton-lifts-lockdown-police-say-person-who-may-have-fired-shots-fled/article_046d4cf2-b49c-11ed-95db-57c5c1bdc76d.html) at the foot of College Hill. A woman was wounded, and the suspect, described as wearing a red sweatshirt, was last seen running east along Bushkill Creek, away from the campus. Lafayette's Department of Public Safety placed the campus on lockdown via [LafayetteAlert](https://publicsafety.lafayette.edu/lockdown/) and instructed students to shelter in place. Easton Police searched along the Delaware River for the shooter while officers swept the campus. The lockdown was lifted later that night after [NBC10 Philadelphia](https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/lafayette-college-on-lockdown-after-reports-of-shots-fired/3508366/) confirmed police believed the suspect had fled away from Lafayette.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "Demonstrated how off-campus violence at the foot of College Hill can drive a campus lockdown even when no shots were fired on Lafayette property",
    "Suspect direction of travel (east along Bushkill Creek, away from campus) was the key fact that allowed Easton Police and Lafayette Public Safety to lift the lockdown within roughly 90 minutes"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "@LafayetteDPS lockdown",
      "url": "https://x.com/LafayetteDPS/status/1629257152161361922",
      "type": "official-social",
      "accessDate": "2026-08-03",
      "archiveUrl": null,
      "archiveNotes": "SPN 523"
    },
    {
      "title": "@LafayetteDPS update",
      "url": "https://x.com/LafayetteDPS/status/1629267730791636992",
      "type": "official-social",
      "accessDate": "2026-08-03",
      "archiveUrl": null,
      "archiveNotes": "SPN 523"
    },
    {
      "title": "@LafayetteDPS lifted",
      "url": "https://x.com/LafayetteDPS/status/1629276018350456833",
      "type": "official-social",
      "accessDate": "2026-08-03",
      "archiveUrl": null,
      "archiveNotes": "SPN 523"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "shooting",
    "shots-fired",
    "lockdown",
    "off-campus",
    "easton",
    "pennsylvania",
    "private-liberal-arts",
    "college-hill",
    "bushkill-creek",
    "verbatim-confirmed"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-03",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-08-03",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}