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Lehigh

Hoax active-shooter call prompts five alerts in 68 minutes, ending in all-clear

AI-generated · every claim is source-linked
PAswattingemergency 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 evening of May 7, 2023, a hoax 911 call reported an active shooter at "the main building" at the intersection of East Packer Avenue and Webster Street on Lehigh's Asa Packer campus. The Lehigh University Police Department issued five HawkWatch alerts between 9:43 PM EDT and 10:51 PM EDT, beginning with a Run-Hide-Fight directive and ending with an all-clear that confirmed the report was a hoax. The case became part of the May 2023 wave of college campus swatting incidents that also hit the University of Pittsburgh, Rider, Rutgers, and Saint Joseph's.

Alerts
6
Response
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Lehigh University
Private R2 · PA
All Lehigh cases →
~7,800 studentsHawkWatch
Documented Timeline

Alert Sequence

6 messages in sequence · 5 verified verbatim

Some messages in this sequence are documented (their existence, timing, and channel are sourced) but their exact wording is not preserved in the public record. Those entries appear as placeholders; only confirmed text is displayed.

INITIAL ALERTPush
There is no active shooter threat detected, please shelter in place until you hear other.
Sent at 9:43 PM EDT on May 7, 2023, minutes after Northampton County 911 non-emergency received a call reporting an active shooter at 'the main building' on East Packer Avenue between Taylor and Webster streets
The 'main building' reference was geographically ambiguous, since Lehigh's Asa Packer campus has multiple buildings near the East Packer-Webster area including the University Center and Maginnes Hall
UPDATEPush+10 min
Lehigh police continue to investigate the reports of an active shooter that were made to the Northampton County 911 center from outside of the Lehigh community. These reports do not appear to be credible at this time. Out of caution, continue to shelter in place until receiving the all clear as Lehigh and Bethlehem police continue to investigate.
The shift from Run-Hide-Fight to Shelter-in-Place came after responding officers indicated the threats may not be credible
The protocol shift is itself notable — Lehigh transitioned from active-shooter posture to suspicious-call posture within minutes
UPDATEPush+38 min
Lehigh police continue to investigate reports of an active threat, which do not appear to be credible. Nothing is observed on cameras and there is no credible threat found at the locations reported. Please follow HawkWatch for credible information and do not circulate misinformation on social media to help keep others calm. NO threat can be found / NO danger confirmed. Stand by for updates.
The third alert maintained the shelter-in-place order while police conducted walking checks of the surrounding area
The phrasing 'no threat confirmed at this time' was carefully hedged, leaving open the possibility of a delayed confirmation rather than declaring a hoax outright
UPDATESMS
Wording not preserved
A update message is documented at this point in the sequence, but its exact wording is not preserved in the public record. The public edition displays only confirmed alert text.
ALL CLEARPush+51 min
Lehigh and Bethlehem police have completed their investigation and it is safe to return to normal activity. No credible threat was found or observed and it was a hoax threat only from outside the Lehigh community. All operations may continue as normal. Anyone with concerns or to report an incident, contact LUPD/Campus Safety at (610) 758-4200. For students experiencing distress, counseling resources are available. MySSP: https://studentaffairs.lehigh.edu/content/my-ssp-student-support-program (Available remotely 24/7 in multiple languages.) University Counseling and Psychological Services (UCPS): https://studentaffairs.lehigh.edu/content/counseling-psychological-services-ucps
The all-clear was issued at approximately 10:51 PM EDT on May 7, 2023, exactly 68 minutes after the initial alert at 9:43 PM EDT
Lehigh's explicit characterization of the call as a 'hoax threat only from outside the Lehigh community' was relatively direct, many institutions used 'unfounded' or 'no threat found' to avoid an early conclusion
The phrase 'No credible threat was found or observed' is a precise Clery-style construction that addresses both physical sweep results and camera/observational evidence
Lehigh subsequently worked with the FBI and Pennsylvania State Police to identify the caller
INITIAL ALERTPush
An Active Shooter has been reported at Report of an active shooter in the area of West Packer and Webster street.. All individuals are advised to flee if possible, hide if you cannot escape and fight if necessary.
Chronologically first HawkWatch CAP of the May 7, 2023 cascade; added as sequence 6 to avoid renumbering already-confirmed sequences 1–5
Wording preserved exactly, including awkward "reported at Report of an active shooter" and double period after "street."
Message elements

How the first alert is built

To check this alert, Claude (an AI) read it in full 25 separate times, independently. Each read decided whether the message answers each of the six questions and gave a short reason. A final reviewer then weighed all 25 and wrote the plain-English verdict you see when you open a row. The score (for example 22/25) is how many reads agreed; the 25 individual reads are tucked underneath if you want to check them.

There is no active shooter threat detected, please shelter in place until you hear other.

  • Sourceabsent0/0

    Who is sending the alert and who is responding. People act faster on a message from a clearly identifiable, credible sender, such as a named department, the police, or a branded alert system, than on an anonymous notice. A branded signature counts.

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  • Hazardabsent0/0

    What the threat actually is. A complete warning names the specific danger, such as a shooter, a fire, a tornado, or a gas leak, rather than a vague emergency, because people decide what to do based on what they are facing.

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  • Locationabsent0/0

    Where the threat is. Saying whether danger is in a specific building, a part of campus, or area-wide lets people judge their own proximity and choose a safe direction. Without a where, a warning is hard to act on precisely.

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  • Guidanceabsent0/0

    The protective action to take. A clear, specific instruction, such as shelter in place, evacuate, avoid the area, or run-hide-fight, drives faster and more correct protective behavior than describing the threat alone.

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  • Timeabsent0/0

    When the message applies. A timestamp, the word now or immediately, or a phrase like until further notice tells the reader whether the danger is current and how quickly to act.

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  • Impactabsent0/0

    What the hazard could do to the people in its path. Beyond naming the threat, a complete warning conveys its potential consequences or severity, such as that a tornado can level buildings or that a leak could be explosive, so recipients grasp how much danger they are in. Research on warning message content finds that a concrete impact statement helps people personalize their risk and act sooner.

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Systematic AI judgments with visible reasoning, not human-validated codings.

About this analysis
Context

Background

On the evening of Sunday, May 7, 2023 (during Lehigh's reading-and-exams period at the close of the spring semester) Northampton County 911 received a non-emergency call reporting an active shooter at "the main building" near East Packer Avenue and Webster Street on Lehigh's Asa Packer campus in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The Lehigh University Police Department issued the first HawkWatch alert at 9:43 PM EDT instructing the campus to Run-Hide-Fight. Five total alerts were sent over 68 minutes, shifting from Run-Hide-Fight to Shelter-in-Place to a final all-clear at 10:51 PM EDT that explicitly characterized the report as a hoax. LUPD coordinated with Bethlehem Police, Pennsylvania State Police, and the FBI to identify the caller. The incident fit the pattern of spring 2023 college swatting hoaxes that targeted Pennsylvania and New Jersey campuses including Rutgers, Rider, the University of Pittsburgh, and Saint Joseph's University, most calls came from outside the area and were placed to county non-emergency lines, suggesting an organized rather than spontaneous pattern.
Analysis

Key Findings

The hoax call was placed to Northampton County 911 non-emergency rather than the emergency line, a hallmark of organized swatting that the FBI flagged in its 2023 college-campus advisory
Lehigh sent five HawkWatch alerts in 68 minutes, shifting from Run-Hide-Fight to Shelter-in-Place to all-clear
The university explicitly used the word 'hoax' in its all-clear, a relatively direct word choice compared to peer institutions that used 'unfounded'
The incident occurred during the spring 2023 college-swatting wave that also hit Pitt, Rider, Rutgers, and Saint Joseph's
Lehigh subsequently engaged the FBI and Pennsylvania State Police, indicating early classification as part of the broader interstate swatting investigation
Outcome
No threat was found. LUPD, Bethlehem Police, Pennsylvania State Police, and the FBI investigated; the call was confirmed as a hoax. Lehigh joined a wave of spring 2023 swatting calls targeting Pennsylvania and New Jersey universities.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
  2. Official
  3. Official
  4. Student Paper
  5. Official
  6. Official
  7. News
  8. Student Paper
  9. Official
  10. Official
  11. Official
Cite this case

Campus Alert Archive. "Lehigh University: Hoax active-shooter call prompts five alerts in 68 minutes, ending in all-clear." Incident of May 7, 2023. Added May 2026; last updated July 2026. https://campusalertarchive.com/case/lehigh-university-active-shooter-hoax-2023-05-07/

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Alert text quoted on this page remains the work of the issuing institution; the archive is a secondary source.

Tags
swattingactive-shooter-hoaxlehighpennsylvaniaprivate-r2spring-2023-swatting-wavehawkwatchrun-hide-fightfbi-investigationlehigh-valleyHoax
Added May 2026Updated July 2026Via ingestion