EUGENE, Ore. – A man was taken into custody after he allegedly held two University of Oregon students hostage on campus.
The university said early Thursday morning, a hand-pulled fire alarm was activated in the William Knight Law Center building. The building was cleared with no evidence of smoke or fire.
After the incident, University of Oregon police officers started reviewing security footage to determine who set off the alarm.
The footage reportedly showed a person pulling the alarm while holding a gun and acting erratically.
Police from multiple agencies responded as UOPD started getting multiple 9-1-1 calls from a cell phone reporting alleged incidents in other areas across the campus.
Through a text exchange, UOPD’s crisis negotiation team was able to connect with what was later determined to be a student in Hamilton Hall who was being held in their room against their will along with another student. The suspect holding them was reportedly the one who made the 9-1-1 calls.
Using information from the texts, Lane County deputies and UOPD responded to Hamilton Hall and immediately found the armed suspect and took him into custody without incident.
The university identified the suspect as 37-year-old Shawn Scott Densmore. He was arrested for menacing, burglary, criminal trespass, kidnapping, and carrying a concealed firearm. He’s currently behind bars in the Lane County Jail.
According to the university, Densmore has no known affiliation with the school.
The investigation is ongoing.
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