Campus Alert Archive
OSU

Seven Minutes of Panic: The Vendor Error That Pushed 'Active Attacker' to All of Ohio State

AI-generated · every claim is source-linked
OHpolice activitytestmedium confidence
UnfoundedNo evidence of an actual threat was found. The institutional response is documented because the alert communication is identical to what would occur during a real incident.

On the afternoon of June 2, 2023, Ohio State's Buckeye Alert system accidentally pushed an 'active attacker' warning to its Columbus campus after a vendor activated the live system during scheduled maintenance. Roughly seven minutes later the university issued a correction labeled 'Buckeye Alert TEST,' confirming there was no emergency on any Ohio State campus.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
The Ohio State University
Public R1 · OH
~61,000 studentsBuckeye Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 1 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
Approximate reconstructionWOSU Public Media coverage quoting the erroneous Buckeye Alert91 chars
Buckeye Alert! Active Attacker reported on/near the OSU Columbus campus. Police responding.

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

Reconstructed from news coverage — outlets reproduced two differing renderings of the erroneous message: WOSU and ABC6 reported it carried active-shooter guidance ('Secure in place: RUN,HIDE,or, as a last resort,FIGHT!'), while others reported the shorter 'Buckeye Alert! Active Attacker reported on/near the OSU Columbus campus. Police responding.' Because the exact wording could not be confirmed against a primary archive (HTTP 403 in this environment), isVerbatimConfirmed is false
The alert went out via text, the university website, and social media at approximately 2:06 PM EDT on June 2, 2023; a system test had been announced about half an hour earlier at 1:36 PM EDT
No active attacker existed — Ohio State's emergency-notification vendor accidentally activated the live Buckeye Alert system during scheduled maintenance
CORRECTIONSMS
Verified verbatim10TV (WBNS) coverage reproducing Ohio State's correction message105 chars
Buckeye Alert TEST - We are undergoing system maintenance and our vendor accidently activated our system.
The misspelling 'accidently' is preserved exactly as Ohio State sent it; the identical wording, including the typo, was reproduced across multiple independent outlets, which is why this correction is marked verbatim-confirmed even though the primary archive is unreachable
At least one outlet reported the correction continued '...activated our system. There is NO emergency on any Ohio State campus.'; that trailing sentence is omitted here because it was not corroborated across sources
Labeling the correction 'Buckeye Alert TEST' reused the system's test prefix to signal the prior 'active attacker' message was not a real emergency notification
Context

Background

The Ohio State University is a public R1 university whose Columbus campus enrolls roughly 60,000 students and uses the 'Buckeye Alert' emergency-notification system. On the afternoon of Friday, June 2, 2023, during the summer term, OSU's emergency-management vendor accidentally activated the live alert system while it was undergoing maintenance, pushing an 'active attacker' warning to the campus at about 2:06 PM EDT. About seven minutes later the university sent a correction labeled 'Buckeye Alert TEST,' explaining the vendor had 'accidently' activated the system and that there was no emergency on any Ohio State campus. Local outlets reported the university apologized and said it was working to ensure the system operated correctly going forward. The episode is one of several documented accidental campus-alert activations in this archive, illustrating the operational risk of testing or maintaining a live mass-notification system.
Analysis

Key Findings

The correction's preserved misspelling ('accidently') is reproduced identically across multiple independent outlets, marking it as genuine verbatim text even though the initial erroneous alert's exact wording varied between news reproductions
Roughly seven minutes elapsed between the erroneous 'active attacker' push (~2:06 PM EDT) and the 'Buckeye Alert TEST' correction (~2:13 PM EDT) on June 2, 2023
The incident was a vendor error during system maintenance, not a hoax or a real threat — a recurring failure mode for live campus mass-notification systems
Outcome
No threat existed; the alert was an erroneous activation by Ohio State's emergency-notification vendor during system maintenance. The university apologized and said it was working to ensure the system would operate correctly going forward. The incident occurred during the summer term, when the campus population is reduced; no injuries resulted.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Ohio State's Emergency Management vendor sends out false attack alert on campus (WOSU)
    wosu.org
    archived copy
  2. News
    Ohio State confirms no active threat after vendor accidentally sent out 'active attacker' alert (10TV)
    10tv.com
    archived copy
  3. News
    Ohio State University does not have active attacker (NBC4 WCMH-TV)
    nbc4i.com
    archived copy
  4. News
    Ohio State accidentally sends out false 'active attacker' notification (Cleveland19)
    cleveland19.com
    archived copy
  5. News
    OSU sends out accidental emergency Buckeye Alert (ABC6)
    abc6onyourside.com
    archived copy
Cite this case

Campus Alert Archive. "The Ohio State University: Seven Minutes of Panic: The Vendor Error That Pushed 'Active Attacker' to All of Ohio State." Incident of June 2, 2023. Added June 2026. https://campusalertarchive.com/case/ohio-state-university-accidental-buckeye-alert-2023-06-02/

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

Tags
accidental-alertfalse-alarmbuckeye-alertemergency-notificationpublic-r1ohiovendor-errorsystem-maintenancecorrectionactive-attackerUnfounded
Added June 2026Updated June 2026Via ingestion