However, the victim would not cooperate so officers had to get information elsewhere. They learned the suspect was a Greensboro resident but not an A&T student.

By 1:38 p.m. police provided a suspect description to the campus through Aggie Alerts, social media, the university website and an RSS feed.

"You would have to really not be paying attention to not know about this," said Todd Simmons, associate vice chancellor of university relations.

Simmons said it was the first time the lockdown system was used in the two-and-a-half years since the university created it.

UNC-Charlotte used a similar system this week to alert the campus when a former student walked into an anthropology class with a pistol and began firing at students during their final presentations. Trystan Andrew Tyrell, 22, faces murder charges in the deaths of 21-year-old Riley Howell and 19-year-old Ellis Parlier. Police credited Howell with sacrificing his life and tackling the gunman, which allowed UNCC police to take him into custody.

The shooting left four other students wounded, three of them critically.

The UNCC shooting took place on the last day of classes as students were gathering for a Waka Flocka Flame concert celebrating the year's end.