NMSU

Six False Bomb Threats in One Day Send Aggies Scrambling Off Campus

Thursday, March 3, 2011NMbomb threatemergency notificationmedium 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 March 3, 2011, a former New Mexico State University student made six separate false bomb threats by phone and over the internet, claiming buildings on the Las Cruces campus would be destroyed by an explosive and that there would be casualties if the campus was not evacuated. The threats caused substantial disruption and the evacuation of parts of campus as police and administrators responded. No device was found.

Alerts: 2
Response: —
Killed: —
Injured: —

Institution

New Mexico State University

Public R2 · NM

~14,000 studentsAggieAlert

Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

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 ALERTSMSDuring the day of March 3, 2011, as the threats were received

Approximate reconstruction188 chars

AggieAlert: A bomb threat has been made against campus buildings. Evacuate affected buildings now and move to a safe distance. Follow directions from police and await further instructions.

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

Reconstructed paraphrase: federal records confirm six false bomb threats on March 3, 2011 caused the evacuation of parts of the NMSU campus, but the exact AggieAlert wording was not located, so this is marked isVerbatimConfirmed:false.

The perpetrator falsely threatened casualties if the campus was not evacuated, which is reflected in the urgency of the reconstructed evacuation instruction.

ALL CLEARSMSLater on March 3, 2011, after searches found no device

Approximate reconstruction162 chars

AggieAlert: Searches of the affected buildings found no explosive device. The buildings are cleared and it is safe to return. The threats are under investigation.

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

Reconstruction reflects the documented outcome that no explosive device was found after the threats.

Qualifies as a true all-clear because it lifts the evacuation and confirms it is safe to return, while noting the continuing investigation that led to a 2012 arrest.

Context

Background

New Mexico State University's main campus is in Las Cruces (Mountain Time). On March 3, 2011, a former student, Daud Anwar of Albuquerque, used telephones and the internet to make six separate false bomb threats, claiming buildings would be destroyed and that there would be casualties if the campus was not evacuated. According to the FBI, the threats caused substantial disruption and the evacuation of parts of campus as law enforcement and university administrators responded; no device was found. Anwar was arrested on March 27, 2012, pled guilty on April 30, 2012, and was sentenced to 24 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. The case is an early-era example of a serial hoax bomb-threat campaign against a university and the federal prosecution that followed. Because the verbatim AggieAlert wording was not recovered, the alerts here are honest reconstructions consistent with the federal records.

Analysis

Key Findings

A former NMSU student made six separate false bomb threats against the Las Cruces campus on March 3, 2011, forcing the evacuation of parts of campus

The perpetrator threatened casualties if the campus was not evacuated, but no explosive device was ever found and no one was injured

Daud Anwar of Albuquerque was arrested March 27, 2012, pled guilty, and was sentenced to 24 months in prison plus three years of supervised release

The episode is an early example of a serial hoax bomb-threat campaign and its federal prosecution

Outcome

No explosive device was ever found and no one was injured. The perpetrator, Daud Anwar of Albuquerque, was arrested on March 27, 2012, pled guilty, and was sentenced to 24 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Provenance

Sources

Official
Former NMSU Student Sentenced to Prison for Making False Bomb Threats - U.S. Department of Justice
justice.gov
Official
Former New Mexico State University Student Sentenced to Prison for Making False Bomb Threats - FBI Albuquerque
archives.fbi.gov

Alert Sequence

Background

Key Findings

Sources

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