Campus Alert Archive
NYU

Two-Hour Delay: NYU's Belated Notification of an Anti-Black Mass-Shooting Hoax

NYswattingemergency 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 September 11, 2025, NYU administrators received an emailed manifesto threatening to 'go for a better score then Dylann Roof' targeting Black students and faculty. The message arrived around 10:43 a.m. EDT but students were not formally notified for nearly two hours as the threat circulated on Reddit and other platforms. Campus Safety later confirmed the threat as a noncredible swatting hoax sent from outside the United States.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
New York University
Private R1 · NY
~59,000 studentsNYU Alert
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 ALERTEmail
Approximate reconstruction458 chars
NYU received an email from an unknown sender containing a despicable racist threat of violence against members of our community. We have shared the email with the New York City Police Department and the FBI, who are investigating. At this time, law enforcement does not deem the threat to be credible. NYU Campus Safety is increasing its presence at locations across our campus. Please remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to NYU Campus Safety.

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

Reconstructed from coverage in Washington Square News describing the first formal NYU notification, sent roughly two hours after the threat email was received at 10:43 AM EDT on September 11, 2025
Per Washington Square News, Walker's universitywide message was sent within two and a half hours of the threat email and described it as a 'despicable racist threat of violence' and likely hoax
Notification followed criticism that the threat was already circulating on Reddit and Instagram before NYU communicated with students
Black student advocacy groups later said the message did not name that the threat specifically targeted Black members of the community
UPDATEEmail
Approximate reconstruction504 chars
Following further investigation by the New York City Police Department and the FBI, the email threat NYU received this morning has been determined to be a 'swatting' hoax and is not credible. Initial assessments indicate the email was sent from outside the United States. NYU Campus Safety will maintain an enhanced presence on campus, and counseling and support services are available to anyone affected. We continue to take every threat seriously and to work in close coordination with law enforcement.

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

Reconstructed from Washington Square News reporting that Fountain Walker confirmed the threat as a 'swatting' hoax and noncredible
Walker issued a second message around 4 PM EDT acknowledging more directly that the language threatened 'violence at the Black members of our community' and deserved 'forceful condemnation' (per Washington Square News)
The Black Student Union later wrote: 'Whether hoax or not, it is clear that agitators have a mission to destroy any feeling of belonging or inclusion that Black students have at this campus' and 'The willful withholding of critical, time-sensitive safety information from Black students represents the wrong solution to this problem.'
FBI and NYPD evaluations indicated the sender was outside the United States
The September 11 incident was part of a larger wave of swatting threats against US universities following the September 10, 2025 shooting death of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University
Context

Background

On the morning of September 11, 2025 — one day after Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University — NYU administrators received an email from an alias 'Bumpy McGraw' titled 'NYU will pay for Iryna with blood,' attaching a six-page racist manifesto referencing the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska and stating an aim to 'go for a better score then Dylann Roof,' the white supremacist who killed nine Black worshippers at Mother Emanuel AME Church in 2015. The email arrived at roughly 10:43 AM EDT but NYU did not formally notify the campus community until nearly two hours later, by which time the threat had already spread on Reddit and Instagram. Campus Safety head Fountain Walker later apologized for the delay before the University Senate, and Black student groups criticized NYU for withholding that the threat specifically targeted Black members of the community. The FBI and NYPD attributed the email to a sender outside the US and classified it as part of an ongoing swatting epidemic targeting US college campuses following the Kirk killing.
Outcome
FBI and NYPD investigators determined the email was sent by a person not in the United States and classified the threat as a noncredible swatting hoax. NYU later acknowledged shortcomings in its communication, with Campus Safety head Fountain Walker apologizing for the delayed notification.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Student Paper
    'Hoax' shooting threat not deemed credible by law enforcement (Washington Square News)
    nyunews.com
  2. Student Paper
    Shooting threat was hoax, Walker confirms (Washington Square News)
    nyunews.com
  3. Student Paper
    'The wrong solution': Black student groups claim NYU withheld information during shooting threat (Washington Square News)
    nyunews.com
  4. Official
    A Message on Last Week's Hoax Threat (NYU Office of the President)
    nyu.edu
  5. News
    US college campuses experiencing epidemic of swatting calls (ABC News)
    abcnews.com
Tags
threat-of-violenceswattinghoaxracist-threatmanifestodelayed-notificationmanhattannew-yorkprivate-r1post-charlie-kirk-waveHoax
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion