Campus Alert Archive
Rutgers

3:40 AM Swatting Call Threatens Multiple Buildings on Rutgers College Avenue Campus

NJbomb 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.

In the early morning hours of April 6, 2023, Rutgers University–New Brunswick received bomb threat calls threatening several buildings on the College Avenue campus. A text and email alert was sent at 3:40 AM EDT directing the community to shelter in place. RUPD and New Brunswick Police conducted a thorough sweep and determined the threat was not credible, consistent with a swatting incident.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Public R1 · NJ
~51,000 studentsRU 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 ALERTmulti-channel
Approximate reconstruction226 chars
RUTGERS ALERT: Bomb threat received for multiple buildings on College Avenue campus. Shelter in place. Avoid the College Avenue campus area. RUPD and New Brunswick Police are responding. Do not approach any suspicious objects.

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

The alert was sent at 3:40 AM EDT via text message and email on April 6, 2023
The threat targeted several buildings on the College Avenue campus, the historic heart of Rutgers in New Brunswick
The early morning timing meant most students were in dormitories, potentially complicating the shelter-in-place order
ALL CLEARmulti-channel+2h 4m
Verified verbatimPatch (New Brunswick) and News 12 New Jersey both quoted the 5:44 a.m. RU Alert lifting message verbatim125 chars
The Rutgers University New Brunswick/Piscataway Campuses have been deemed safe. Please return to normal operating procedures.
Sent at 5:44 a.m. EDT on April 6, 2023 via text and email — approximately 2 hours after the initial 3:40 a.m. shelter-in-place alert
The terse all-clear named both the New Brunswick and Piscataway campuses but did not use the words 'hoax' or 'swatting' — those characterizations came in a separate RUPD press release later that morning
Multiple news outlets quoted this exact construction, supporting it as the verbatim text from the official RU Alert
Context

Background

In the early morning hours of April 6, 2023, Rutgers University–New Brunswick received bomb threat calls threatening several buildings on the College Avenue campus. An alert was sent via text and email at 3:40 AM EDT directing the community to shelter in place. CBS New York reported that RUPD and New Brunswick Police conducted a thorough sweep and deemed the campus safe. News 12 New Jersey confirmed the threat was determined to be not credible and likely a swatting incident. Patch provided New Brunswick community coverage. The incident occurred during the same spring 2023 wave of campus swatting calls that targeted institutions across the Northeast.
Analysis

Key Findings

The 3:40 AM timing of the threat required alerting a 51,000-student campus in the middle of the night, one of the largest campuses to experience a nocturnal bomb threat
The all-clear explicitly identified the incident as consistent with a swatting call, which helps educate the community about this growing threat category
The incident targeted the College Avenue campus, Rutgers' historic center and most student-dense area
Outcome
The threat was determined to be a swatting call. No explosive devices were found. The campus was deemed safe after a thorough sweep by RUPD and New Brunswick Police.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Bomb threat puts Rutgers University on shelter-in-place mode (NJ 101.5)
    nj1015.com
  2. News
    Rutgers University–New Brunswick campus deemed safe after bomb threat (CBS New York)
    cbsnews.com
  3. News
    Rutgers deemed safe after bomb threat, likely a swatting incident (News 12 NJ)
    newjersey.news12.com
  4. News
    Rutgers Bomb Threat Under Investigation (Patch)
    patch.com
Tags
bomb-threatswattingnew-jerseyearly-morningcollege-avenueshelter-in-place51000-studentsHoax
Added April 2026Updated April 2026Via ingestion