INITIAL ALERTweb
Earlier this morning, Campus Safety was made aware of a concerning email received by a University of Iowa employee. Out of an abundance of caution, the impacted offices chose to lock down while law enforcement investigated the communication. UI Police responded and quickly confirmed there was no credible threat to campus safety. The email was connected to a known swatting tactic already being investigated by other law enforcement agencies. An emergency notification (Hawk Alert) was not issued because there was no confirmation of a campus-wide threat to the community. Hawk Alerts are sent when there is a confirmed threat to the campus community. The UI Police Department takes all reports of potential threats seriously and encourages the community to remain vigilant. Timely reporting to law enforcement allows police to respond quickly and accurately to support the safety of everyone on campus.
Verbatim text from the UI Police Department's official news release on September 11, 2025
Notable for explicitly explaining the decision NOT to issue a Hawk Alert, which is unusual transparency for university police
The statement explicitly distinguishes between Hawk Alert criteria (confirmed threat) and localized response to a swatting email
Iowa State University had been targeted by a similar swatting hoax earlier in the semester
The linkage to an ongoing national investigation suggests this was part of the same coordinated swatting wave targeting universities in August-September 2025