4 Campuses Targeted in Latest Rash of Swatting Calls

At least four campuses on Thursday received swatting calls—false reports of active or impending threats intended to disrupt operations and whip up a significant police response. 

Early Thursday morning, officials at Villanova University outside Philadelphia received a “threat of violence targeted at an academic building” and quickly closed their campus and canceled all activities. University officials issued an all clear at 1:36 p.m. on Thursday and noted that the FBI and local law enforcement were continuing their investigation. 

Alcorn State University in Mississippi initiated a campus lockdown Thursday morning due to a “safety threat,” which officials cleared several hours later. Wiley University in Texas also locked down its campus due to a “threat via email” and lifted the lockdown at noon Thursday. 

Bishop State Community College in Mobile, Ala., evacuated its campus and moved classes online Thursday morning due to a “threatening” email, college officials said. A nearby elementary school also entered lockdown due to the same threat, AL.com reported. 

K–12 schools across the country have also seen an uptick in swatting calls in recent days. Four schools in the San Diego Unified School District were the target of swatting calls Tuesday. Several Maine schools also received threats on Wednesday.

It’s unclear whether any of these threats are related. In August, colleges and universities across the country experienced a wave of swatting incidents that were later claimed by an extremist group. About a month later, seven historically Black colleges and universities received false bomb threats.