Campus Alert Archive
CMC

A Swatting Call Locked Down All Five Claremont Colleges for Two Hours on a Spring Afternoon

CAswattingemergency notificationhigh confidence
Confirmed HoaxDetermined to be a hoax. The institutional response is documented because it reveals how the alert system performed under a perceived real threat.

On the afternoon of March 13, 2025, the Claremont Police Department received a swatting call from an unknown person who claimed to be holding someone captive in a Claremont McKenna College restroom and threatened to detonate a bomb and shoot anyone they saw. Campus Safety issued a series of alerts to all five Claremont Consortium colleges (Pomona, CMC, Scripps, Pitzer, Harvey Mudd) directing students to shelter in place. After more than two hours, Claremont PD confirmed the call was a swatting hoax.

Alerts
4
Response
5 min
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Claremont McKenna College
Private Liberal Arts · CA
~1,400 students5C Campus Safety Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

4 messages in sequence · 3 verified verbatim

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Verified verbatimThe Student Life (5C student newspaper) coverage of the 4:55 p.m. PDT initial 5C Campus Safety Alert137 chars
5C CAMPUS SAFETY ALERT: Police activity reported on or near Claremont McKenna College campus. STAY AWAY FROM THE AREA. Updates to follow.
The 4:55 p.m. PDT alert was sent across all five Claremont Colleges via the shared 5C Campus Safety Alert system
The initial language ('Police activity ... STAY AWAY') was deliberately under-specific compared to follow-up alerts that named the threat directly
The 5C consortium's shared alert system means a single Pomona-issued alert reaches CMC, Scripps, Pitzer, and Harvey Mudd simultaneously
UPDATESMS+15 min
Verified verbatimThe Student Life coverage of the 5:10 p.m. PDT escalated alert naming a potential shooter on CMC's campus178 chars
5C CAMPUS SAFETY ALERT: POTENTIAL SHOOTER ON CMC CAMPUS. Police are responding. If on campus, lock doors, turn off lights, stay away from windows. If off campus, stay off campus.
The 15-minute escalation from 'police activity' to 'POTENTIAL SHOOTER ON CMC CAMPUS' reflects how the swatter's bomb-and-rifle threat was passed to the alert system
The all-caps 'POTENTIAL SHOOTER' language signaled life-safety urgency to recipients
Instructing 'If off campus, stay off campus' is now a standard 5C alert phrase developed after past swatting events
UPDATESMS+20 min
Verified verbatimThe Student Life coverage of the 5:15 p.m. PDT shelter-in-place alert157 chars
5C CAMPUS SAFETY ALERT: SHELTER IN PLACE. IF YOU ARE OFF CAMUS STAY OFF CAMPUS. CMC is being searched by police. Continue sheltering. More updates to follow.
The misspelling 'CAMUS' instead of 'CAMPUS' is preserved verbatim — a real typo in a high-pressure alert sequence
Repeating the previous instruction within five minutes (5:10 → 5:15 PDT) reflects how compressed the alert tempo was during the active sweep
Saying CMC was 'being searched by police' was accurate and informative without revealing operational details
ALL CLEARSMS+2h 41m
Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from The Student Life and Claremont Independent reporting on the 7:36 p.m. PDT all-clear that confirmed the swatting determination282 chars
5C CAMPUS SAFETY ALERT: ALL CLEAR. Claremont Police have completed their search and confirmed there is no active threat on the CMC or other 5C campuses. The reported call has been determined to be a swatting incident. Counseling resources are available. Thank you for your patience.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The all-clear came at 7:36 p.m. PDT — more than 2 hours 40 minutes after the initial alert
Explicitly using the word 'swatting' in the all-clear was significant — it framed the false call as a known phenomenon rather than a vague 'unfounded report'
Pomona College had canceled all afternoon classes; the all-clear arrived after the academic day had already ended
Context

Background

The Claremont Colleges — Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Scripps, Pitzer, and Harvey Mudd — are a consortium of five undergraduate liberal arts colleges sharing a single contiguous campus footprint in Claremont, California. They share a single Campus Safety service and a unified 5C alert system. On the afternoon of March 13, 2025, the Claremont Police Department received a swatting call from an anonymous person claiming to be in a Claremont McKenna College restroom holding someone captive, threatening to detonate a bomb and shoot anyone they saw. The 5C Campus Safety Alert system pushed an escalating series of messages — starting with a 4:55 p.m. PDT 'police activity' notice, escalating to a 5:10 p.m. PDT 'POTENTIAL SHOOTER ON CMC CAMPUS' alert, and then a 5:15 p.m. PDT shelter-in-place. Pomona canceled all afternoon classes and students huddled in dorms, libraries, and dining halls for over two hours. At 7:36 p.m. PDT, the all-clear arrived. The same week, a parallel swatting call hit a different California college, suggesting the Claremont incident was part of a broader pattern. The case is significant for documenting how a single swatting call can simultaneously lock down five colleges sharing a common alert system.
Analysis

Key Findings

A single swatting call locked down all five Claremont Colleges (Pomona, CMC, Scripps, Pitzer, Harvey Mudd) simultaneously through their shared 5C Campus Safety Alert system
The verbatim alert text included a typo — 'CAMUS' instead of 'CAMPUS' — preserved as documented in The Student Life student newspaper
The lockdown lasted more than two hours and 40 minutes, from 4:55 p.m. PDT initial alert to 7:36 p.m. PDT all-clear
The all-clear explicitly used the word 'swatting,' framing the incident as a known phenomenon rather than a generic 'unfounded report'
Pomona College canceled all afternoon classes during the lockdown
The Claremont incident illustrates how shared alert systems amplify the reach (and disruption) of a single swatting call across multi-campus consortia
Outcome
No injuries occurred and no suspect or device was found. Claremont Police searched the campus thoroughly and confirmed the call was a swatting hoax. Pomona College canceled all classes that afternoon. The Claremont Police Department announced an investigation into the false report.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Student Paper
    Swatting call prompts lockdown across the 5Cs - The Student Life (Claremont student newspaper)
    tsl.news
  2. Student Paper
    5C students recall fear and confusion after swatting incident - The Student Life
    tsl.news
  3. News
    Claremont McKenna College lifts lockdown after hoax bomb, shooting call - NBC Los Angeles
    nbclosangeles.com
  4. Student Paper
    False Shooter Threat Appears to be 'Swatting' Incident - Claremont Independent
    claremontindependent.com
  5. Social
    Swatting Call at Claremont McKenna College - Claremont Police Department Facebook
    facebook.com
  6. Official
    Emergency Information | Pomona College in Claremont, California
    pomona.edu
  7. Official
    Crimes on Campus | Pomona College Emergency
    pomona.edu
  8. Student Paper
    Campus Safety warns of potential shooter at CMC - The Student Life
    tsl.news
Tags
swattingprivate-liberal-artsclaremont-collegesclaremont-mckennapomona-college5c-consortiumcaliforniahoaxshared-alert-systemlockdownshelter-in-placeHoax
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion