Campus Alert Archive
Northwest

30 Minutes After a Scheduled Bearcat Alert Drill, a Real Swatting Call Hits Northwest's Main Line

MOswattingemergency 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 the morning of March 19, 2025, Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville received a swatting call to its main university phone line at approximately 11:30 a.m. CDT threatening gun violence on the main campus. The call arrived 30 minutes after Northwest had completed a scheduled Bearcat Alert test tied to the statewide tornado drill at 11:00 a.m. University Police Department officers searched and cleared all campus facilities including the Horace Mann Laboratory School, found no credible threat, and traced the call to an overseas number. The incident coincided with a series of swatting calls hitting Missouri schools that day, including North Nodaway R-VI School District.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Northwest Missouri State University
Public Masters · MO
~8,500 studentsBearcat Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 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 ALERTSMS
Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from Northwest Media Center announcement describing the planned March 19, 2025 11 AM Bearcat Alert test tied to the statewide tornado drill153 chars
Bearcat Alert: This is a test of the Bearcat Alert emergency notification system in coordination with the statewide tornado drill. No action is required.

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

Reconstructed text. Northwest's emergency management office had publicly announced a Bearcat Alert system test at 11:00 a.m. CDT on March 19, 2025 as part of Missouri's statewide tornado drill — the system was therefore active and the community primed for emergency messaging when the swatting call arrived 30 minutes later
Including the routine test as Sequence 1 illustrates how the swatting caller may have timed the threat to exploit elevated community attention to Bearcat Alert messages
Northwest's alerts are dispatched through Bearcat Alert, a Rave-based system covering text, email, and voice
INITIAL ALERTSMS+35 min
Approximate reconstruction157 chars
Bearcat Alert: University Police are responding to a reported threat on main campus. Shelter in place. Lock doors. Avoid windows. More information to follow.

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

Reconstructed message reflecting Bearcat Alert standard format and the news-reported response sequence at approximately 11:30-11:35 AM CDT on March 19, 2025
isVerbatimConfirmed set to false because the verbatim alert text was not directly quoted in news coverage; police acknowledged Bearcat Alert was used to push shelter instructions
Bearcat Alert pushes to all student, staff, and faculty cell numbers and emails on file via the university's Rave Mobile Safety platform
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstruction154 chars
Bearcat Alert: University Police have searched and cleared campus facilities. No credible threat found. Resume normal activities. Investigation continues.

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

Reconstructed all-clear; news outlets reported that 'University Police Department officers searched and cleared campus facilities, including Horace Mann Laboratory School' but did not quote the verbatim Bearcat Alert message
The inclusion of Horace Mann Laboratory School is significant — it is the K-6 lab school physically located on Northwest's campus, meaning the sweep necessarily affected hundreds of elementary-age children
Police later traced the swatting call to an overseas number, consistent with the broader 2024-2025 wave of international VoIP swatting targeting US universities
Context

Background

Northwest Missouri State University is a public master's institution in Maryville, Missouri, with roughly 8,500 students. On Wednesday, March 19, 2025, the university received a swatting call to its main phone line at about 11:30 a.m. CDT, threatening gun violence on the main campus. The timing was striking: Northwest had completed a Bearcat Alert test tied to the statewide tornado drill at 11:00 a.m., meaning the swatting threat arrived only thirty minutes after the community had received a 'this is a test' message. University Police, Maryville Police, and the Nodaway County Sheriff's Department searched all facilities — including the Horace Mann Laboratory School, the K-6 lab school physically on Northwest's campus — and found no credible threat. The call was traced to an overseas number. Officials investigated the call alongside swatting threats made the same day to nearby North Nodaway R-VI School District — part of a continuing wave of swatting calls targeting Missouri educational institutions in early 2025. Bearcat Alert performed as designed and there were no injuries.
Analysis

Key Findings

The swatting call arrived 30 minutes after a scheduled Bearcat Alert test — a coincidence in timing that complicated the initial community interpretation of alerts and illustrates how scheduled tests can shape (and sometimes confuse) the perception of subsequent real alerts
Horace Mann Laboratory School, a K-6 elementary lab school physically on Northwest's campus, fell within the sweep zone — meaning a single phoned-in hoax forced the search of an elementary school
The call was traced to an overseas number, consistent with the broader 2024-2025 wave of international VoIP-based swatting attacks targeting US educational institutions
Multiple Missouri schools received swatting calls the same day, including North Nodaway R-VI, suggesting a coordinated targeting pattern
Outcome
University Police, Maryville Police Department, and the Nodaway County Sheriff's Department searched the campus and found no credible threat. The call was traced to an overseas number. No injuries or arrests reported.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Law enforcement investigating swatting call at Northwest (KQ2)
    kq2.com
  2. News
    Officials investigating 'swatting' calls to North Nodaway, Northwest (Maryville Forum)
    maryvilleforum.com
  3. Student Paper
    Northwest receives swatting call threatening gun violence on campus Wednesday (Northwest Missourian)
    nwmissourinews.com
  4. News
    Law enforcement investigating swatting call at NWMSU (Q Country 92.7)
    myqcountry.com
  5. Official
    Northwest encourages campus community to prepare for severe weather, participate in tornado drill (Northwest Media Center)
    nwmissouri.edu
Tags
swattingmissourinorthwest-missouri-statepublic-mastersbearcat-alertinternational-swattinglab-schooldiversity-priorityplainsHoax
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion