Campus area declared safe after suspect armed with knife 'contained'
May 24—CHAMPAIGN — Safety alerts sent to the University of Illinois community Friday morning stated there is no longer a threat to the area of Third and Green streets after police "contained" a suspect armed with a knife
A witness called 911 at 5:54 a.m. reporting they saw an individual acting erratically, unclothed and possibly in need of medical attention near the area of second and Green Street in Champaign, University of Illinois Police spokesperson Pat Wade said.
The first arriving officer was on scene within a minute of being dispatched and observed that the individual was holding a knife.
Officers contained the individual to a small area and spoke with her for an extended period of tim to de-escalate the situation, Wade said.
An Illini-Alert emergency notification was issued to students, faculty and staff around 6:17 a.m., instructing them to avoid the area.
During the conversation with police, the individual dropped the knife and first responders began to provide medical assistance.
The scene was determined safe around 8:30 a.m. and police issued an updated alert at 8:34 a.m. informing students, faculty and staff that the emergency was over and it was safe to resume normal activity.
The University of Illinois Police were assisted by officers of the Urbana and Champaign police departments, including a behavioral health detective and crisis negotiator from the Urbana Police Department.
