A man chased students on Vanderbilt’s campus near Wyatt Center and threatened them with a knife around 1:40 a.m. CDT on Sept. 28, according to WSMV. A suspect, Kiracuras Johnson, was later arrested by VUPD and is facing charges for criminal trespassing and aggravated assault.  

A knife was not found in Johnson’s possession during the arrest. VUPD had previously given Johnson a criminal trespass warning.  

Students were not alerted of the incident through the AlertVU emergency communication system. In a statement to The Hustler, Vanderbilt University Public Safety said they are committed to keeping Vanderbilt safe and that they were able to quickly apprehend the suspect. They added that an AlertVU message would have been sent out if there was an ongoing threat.   

“We recognize that incidents like these are very concerning, and we are committed to keeping our community safe,” the statement reads.  

VUPS said that AlertVU messages are only sent out for serious and imminent threats to the Vanderbilt community.  

“In this case, our dispatchers quickly located the suspect on camera and monitored the situation in real time as officers responded to the area,” the statement reads. “Their evaluation did not indicate an ongoing threat to campus at that point, but they were prepared to issue an AlertVU if the situation had changed. Our officers located and arrested the suspect within minutes.” 

VUPS added that there are no ongoing issues or concerns that would require changes to the current safety and security systems.  

Both students who submitted a police report declined to comment to The Hustler out of concern for safety and privacy.