Campus Alert Archive
SCAD

Active-shooter alert sent in error during a system test; correction followed in minutes

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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 May 6, 2025, the Savannah College of Art and Design accidentally sent a live active-shooter alert to its community during what was meant to be a test of the SCAD Alert system. Students said it took about five minutes before a correction went out stating there was no active shooter on any SCAD campus. The art-and-design school, which spans Atlanta and Savannah locations, apologized for the error.

Alerts
2
Response
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Killed
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Injured
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Institution
Savannah College of Art and Design
Private Bachelors · GA
All SCAD cases →
~17,500 studentsSCAD Alert
Documented Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Some messages in this sequence are documented (their existence, timing, and channel are sourced) but their exact wording is not preserved in the public record. Those entries appear as placeholders; only confirmed text is displayed.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Wording not preservedAtlanta News First (reconstructed from reporting)
A initial alert message is documented at this point in the sequence, but its exact wording is not preserved in the public record. The public edition displays only confirmed alert text.
CORRECTIONSMS+5 min
Verified verbatim11Alive (quoted follow-up alert text)128 chars
SCAD Alert: UPDATE There is no Active Shooter on any SCAD Campus. The alert was inadvertently sent out. All locations are clear.
11Alive published this follow-up message verbatim; it took roughly five minutes after the erroneous alert, students said.
The correction had to reassure recipients at both the Atlanta and Savannah campuses at once, since the live-mode error reached the entire SCAD community.
The phrase 'inadvertently sent out' is the institution's own admission of operator error rather than a system malfunction.
Context

Background

SCAD, one of the largest art-and-design schools in the country, operates campuses in Atlanta and Savannah and tests its SCAD Alert emergency-notification system regularly. On May 6, 2025, a test was inadvertently sent in live mode, pushing an active-shooter warning to the whole community. 11Alive reported that the correction ('There is no Active Shooter on any SCAD Campus. The alert was inadvertently sent out. All locations are clear.') followed about five minutes later, and FOX 5 Atlanta reported that SCAD apologized for the mistake. The episode is a useful archive entry on operator-error false alarms at a specialty institution and the multi-minute gap before a correction reaches a multi-city student body.
Analysis

Key Findings

A routine SCAD Alert test was sent in live mode on May 6, 2025, broadcasting an active-shooter warning to the entire community by mistake
Students said the correction took about five minutes, a meaningful delay when the original message used 'Run, Hide, Fight' language
Because SCAD spans Atlanta and Savannah, the erroneous alert and its correction had to reach a geographically split student body simultaneously
SCAD publicly apologized and characterized the message as 'inadvertently sent,' an operator-error false alarm rather than a system failure
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Mistaken active shooter alert accidentally sent out at SCAD, officials say - 11Alive
    11alive.com
    archived copy
  2. News
    Active shooter threat reportedly sent 'inadvertently' to SCAD Atlanta campus - Atlanta News First
    atlantanewsfirst.com
    archived copy
  3. News
    SCAD apologizes after active shooter alert test accidentally sent to students - FOX 5 Atlanta
    fox5atlanta.com
    archived copy
Cite this case

Campus Alert Archive. "Savannah College of Art and Design: Active-shooter alert sent in error during a system test; correction followed in minutes." Incident of May 6, 2025. Added May 2026; last updated July 2026. https://campusalertarchive.com/case/scad-atlanta-accidental-active-shooter-alert-2025-05-06/

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

Tags
art-schooldesign-schoolfalse-alarmoperator-erroractive-shootergeorgiaspecialty-institutionUnfounded
Added May 2026Updated July 2026Via ingestion