Campus Alert Archive
USC

False 911 calls with simulated gunfire trigger an active-shooter alert at the library

AI-generated · every claim is source-linked
SCswattingemergency notificationmedium confidence
Compare →
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 August 24, 2025, USCPD dispatch received two 911 calls within two minutes reporting an active shooter at Thomas Cooper Library, with the unknown male caller using background noise that mimicked gunfire. The Carolina Alert system sent a full active shooter notification with Run-Hide-Fight instructions to the campus community.

Alerts
6
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
University of South Carolina
Public R1 · SC
All USC cases →
~35,000 studentsCarolina Alert
Official alert policy
Read when and how USC says it will use Carolina Alert: summarized, quoted, and analyzed.
Documented Timeline

Alert Sequence

6 messages in sequence · 6 verified verbatim

Confirmed wording is transcribed character-for-character from a primary source. Use Verify this quote under each message to open that source in a new tab and compare the text yourself.

INITIAL ALERTTwitter/X
Verified verbatim234 chars
Carolina Alert: ACTIVE SHOOTER on Columbia campus. Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself, as necessary. Obey officials. Check https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/law_enforcement_and_safety/carolina-alert/ for info.
Verify this quote
@CarolinaAlertx.comfind archived copies
EXPANSION P4 sequence 2026-08-02. Dual fetch. SPN 523.
UPDATETwitter/X+3 min
Verified verbatim220 chars
Urgent Carolina Alert: Active Shooter at Thomas Cooper Library on Columbia campus. Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself. https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/law_enforcement_and_safety/carolina-alert/
Verify this quote
@CarolinaAlertx.comfind archived copies
EXPANSION P4 sequence 2026-08-02. Dual fetch. SPN 523.
ALL CLEARTwitter/X+1h 30m
Verified verbatim224 chars
Urgent Carolina Alert: ALL CLEAR. There is no ongoing emergency at this time. The Thomas Cooper Library building remains closed. https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/law_enforcement_and_safety/carolina-alert/ for info.
Verify this quote
@CarolinaAlertx.comfind archived copies
EXPANSION P4 sequence 2026-08-02. Dual fetch. SPN 523.
UPDATETwitter/X
Verified verbatim155 chars
Urgent Carolina Alert: No evident of an Active Shooter at this time. Police are searching. Please continue to shelter in place until there is an all clear.
Verify this quote
@CarolinaAlert on X (verbatim raw t.co)x.comfind archived copies
Posted verbatim by the official Carolina Alert account and quoted word-for-word by CNN and WLTX
Includes Run-Hide-Fight instructions ('Defend yourself if you encounter the suspect')
The caller claimed to have seen a person carrying a firearm going into Thomas Cooper Library
ALL CLEARSMS
Verified verbatim121 chars
Carolina Alert: ALL CLEAR. ALL CLEAR. There is no ongoing emergency at this time; you no longer need to shelter in place.
Verify this quote
WLTX quoting the Carolina Alert all-clear verbatimwltx.comfind archived copies
WLTX quoted this all-clear text exactly as sent, including the doubled 'ALL CLEAR. ALL CLEAR.' for emphasis
Notably brief, does not yet characterize the incident as a hoax (that came in later official statements)
SLED was brought in to assist with the investigation into the false reports
INITIAL ALERTTwitter/X
Verified verbatim164 chars
Urgent Carolina Alert: Active Shooter at Thomas Cooper Library on Columbia campus. Subject reported as 6ft white male with black pants. http://sc.edu/carolinaalert.
Verify this quote
@CarolinaAlert on X (verbatim)x.comfind archived copies
Sent shortly after the second 911 call at 6:32:20 PM EDT, the unknown male caller's hoax included background noise that mimicked gunfire
Pushes a granular suspect description ('6ft white male with black pants') sourced from the swatting caller, the same caller who fabricated the shooter report in the first place
Carolina Alert posted this same text to X (Twitter) as well as sending it via SMS, email, and other channels
Corrected to exact fxtwitter display text.
Message elements

How the first alert is built

To check this alert, Claude Opus 5 (an AI) read it in full 25 separate times, independently. Each read decided whether the message answers each of the six questions and gave a short reason. A final reviewer then weighed all 25 and wrote the plain-English verdict you see when you open a row. The score (for example 22/25) is how many reads agreed; the 25 individual reads are tucked underneath if you want to check them.

Carolina Alert: ACTIVE SHOOTER on Columbia campus. Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself, as necessary. Obey officials. Check https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/law_enforcement_and_safety/carolina-alert/ for info.

  • Sourcepresent25/25

    Final assessment

    Present, 25 of 25. The message opens with the branded signature "Carolina Alert:" and points to the campus law enforcement page, so every reader saw a named sender.

    Who is sending the alert and who is responding. People act faster on a message from a clearly identifiable, credible sender, such as a named department, the police, or a branded alert system, than on an anonymous notice. A branded signature counts.

    See all 25 individual reads
    1. present: Opens with the branded signature 'Carolina Alert:'.
    2. present: Branded signature "Carolina Alert:" opens the message and names the sender.
    3. present: Opens with the branded signature "Carolina Alert", a sender tag.
    4. present: Opens with the branded signature 'Carolina Alert' and links the campus law enforcement office.
    5. present: Opens with the branded signature 'Carolina Alert:'.
    6. present: Opens with the branded signature 'Carolina Alert' and cites a law enforcement office page.
    7. present: Opens with the branded signature Carolina Alert.
    8. present: Opens with the branded signature 'Carolina Alert' plus a law enforcement web address.
    9. present: Opens with the branded signature 'Carolina Alert', a sender tag.
    10. present: Opens with the branded signature 'Carolina Alert', a clear sender tag.
    11. present: Branded signature 'Carolina Alert' opens the message.
    12. present: Branded signature 'Carolina Alert:' opens the message.
    13. present: Branded signature 'Carolina Alert:' opens the message.
    14. present: Opens with the branded signature 'Carolina Alert', a sender tag.
    15. present: Opens with the branded signature 'Carolina Alert', a sender tag.
    16. present: Branded sender tag 'Carolina Alert' opens the message.
    17. present: Opens with the branded signature "Carolina Alert".
    18. present: Branded signature "Carolina Alert" opens the message and identifies the sender.
    19. present: Branded sender tag 'Carolina Alert:' opens the message.
    20. present: Opens with the branded signature 'Carolina Alert:'.
    21. present: Opens with the branded signature 'Carolina Alert'.
    22. present: Branded signature 'Carolina Alert' opens the message.
    23. present: Branded sender tag "Carolina Alert:" opens the message.
    24. present: Branded signature "Carolina Alert" opens the message and identifies the sender.
    25. present: Opens with the branded signature 'Carolina Alert' identifying the sender.
  • Hazardpresent25/25

    Final assessment

    Present, 25 of 25. "ACTIVE SHOOTER" names the threat outright, in capitals, with no reader dissenting.

    What the threat actually is. A complete warning names the specific danger, such as a shooter, a fire, a tornado, or a gas leak, rather than a vague emergency, because people decide what to do based on what they are facing.

    See all 25 individual reads
    1. present: 'ACTIVE SHOOTER' names the threat specifically.
    2. present: "ACTIVE SHOOTER" names the threat explicitly.
    3. present: Names "ACTIVE SHOOTER" as the specific threat.
    4. present: 'ACTIVE SHOOTER' names the threat explicitly.
    5. present: Names 'ACTIVE SHOOTER' as the specific threat.
    6. present: 'ACTIVE SHOOTER' names the threat specifically.
    7. present: Names ACTIVE SHOOTER as the threat.
    8. present: 'ACTIVE SHOOTER' names the threat precisely.
    9. present: 'ACTIVE SHOOTER' names the threat explicitly.
    10. present: 'ACTIVE SHOOTER' names the specific threat.
    11. present: 'ACTIVE SHOOTER' names the specific threat.
    12. present: 'ACTIVE SHOOTER' names a specific threat.
    13. present: 'ACTIVE SHOOTER' names the specific threat.
    14. present: 'ACTIVE SHOOTER' names a specific threat.
    15. present: 'ACTIVE SHOOTER' names a specific threat.
    16. present: 'ACTIVE SHOOTER' names the threat explicitly.
    17. present: "ACTIVE SHOOTER" names the threat precisely.
    18. present: "ACTIVE SHOOTER" names the threat explicitly.
    19. present: 'ACTIVE SHOOTER' names the threat explicitly.
    20. present: 'ACTIVE SHOOTER' names the threat specifically.
    21. present: 'ACTIVE SHOOTER' names the specific threat.
    22. present: 'ACTIVE SHOOTER' names a specific threat.
    23. present: Names "ACTIVE SHOOTER" as the specific threat.
    24. present: "ACTIVE SHOOTER" names a specific threat.
    25. present: 'ACTIVE SHOOTER' names a specific threat.
  • Locationpresent25/25

    Final assessment

    Present, 25 of 25. "on Columbia campus" places the threat, reinforced for several readers by "Avoid the area".

    Where the threat is. Saying whether danger is in a specific building, a part of campus, or area-wide lets people judge their own proximity and choose a safe direction. Without a where, a warning is hard to act on precisely.

    See all 25 individual reads
    1. present: 'on Columbia campus' gives the place.
    2. present: "on Columbia campus" and "Avoid the area" give a place.
    3. present: Says "on Columbia campus" and tells people to avoid the area.
    4. present: 'on Columbia campus' places the threat.
    5. present: Places it 'on Columbia campus'.
    6. present: 'on Columbia campus' plus 'Avoid the area' gives a place.
    7. present: Says on Columbia campus.
    8. present: 'on Columbia campus' gives the place.
    9. present: 'on Columbia campus' gives the place.
    10. present: 'on Columbia campus' identifies the place.
    11. present: 'on Columbia campus' gives the place.
    12. present: 'on Columbia campus' plus 'Avoid the area' gives place.
    13. present: 'Columbia campus' locates the threat.
    14. present: 'on Columbia campus' gives the place.
    15. present: 'on Columbia campus' plus 'the area' gives place.
    16. present: 'on Columbia campus' gives the place.
    17. present: "on Columbia campus" gives the place.
    18. present: "on Columbia campus" gives the place.
    19. present: 'on Columbia campus' gives the place.
    20. present: 'on Columbia campus' gives the place.
    21. present: 'on Columbia campus' gives the place.
    22. present: 'on Columbia campus' gives the place.
    23. present: Places it on the "Columbia campus".
    24. present: "on Columbia campus" locates the threat.
    25. present: 'on Columbia campus' gives the place.
  • Guidancepresent25/25

    Final assessment

    Present, 25 of 25. "Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself, as necessary. Obey officials." are direct protective instructions to recipients.

    The protective action to take. A clear, specific instruction, such as shelter in place, evacuate, avoid the area, or run-hide-fight, drives faster and more correct protective behavior than describing the threat alone.

    See all 25 individual reads
    1. present: 'Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself' are direct instructions.
    2. present: Tells recipients to avoid the area and evacuate, barricade or defend themselves.
    3. present: Instructs "Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself" and obey officials.
    4. present: 'Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself' are direct protective instructions.
    5. present: Instructs 'Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself'.
    6. present: Instructs 'Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself' and 'Obey officials'.
    7. present: Tells readers to avoid the area and evacuate, barricade or defend.
    8. present: 'Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself' are direct protective instructions.
    9. present: 'Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself' are direct actions.
    10. present: 'Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself' are direct protective instructions.
    11. present: 'Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself' are direct protective actions.
    12. present: Directs 'Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself'.
    13. present: 'Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself' are protective instructions.
    14. present: 'Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself' are protective instructions.
    15. present: 'Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself' are direct actions.
    16. present: 'Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself' are direct protective instructions.
    17. present: "Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself" are recipient instructions.
    18. present: "Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself" are direct protective instructions.
    19. present: 'Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself' are direct actions.
    20. present: 'Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself' are direct protective instructions.
    21. present: 'Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself' are direct instructions.
    22. present: 'Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself' are direct instructions.
    23. present: Tells readers to "Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself".
    24. present: "Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself" instructs recipients directly.
    25. present: 'Avoid the area. Evacuate/barricade/defend yourself' are direct protective instructions.
  • Timeabsent0/25

    Final assessment

    Absent, 0 of 25 read it as present. No clock time, date or recency word appears, and readers noted that "active" belongs to the hazard label rather than marking timing.

    When the message applies. A timestamp, the word now or immediately, or a phrase like until further notice tells the reader whether the danger is current and how quickly to act.

    See all 25 individual reads
    1. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears.
    2. absent: No clock time, date or recency word such as now or immediately appears.
    3. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears; "active" belongs to the hazard label.
    4. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears; 'active' belongs to the hazard label.
    5. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears anywhere.
    6. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears; 'active' belongs to the hazard label.
    7. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears.
    8. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears anywhere in the message.
    9. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears; 'active shooter' is hazard wording only.
    10. absent: No clock time, date, or recency word appears anywhere in the message.
    11. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears.
    12. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears.
    13. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears; 'active' belongs to the hazard label.
    14. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears.
    15. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears; 'active' belongs to the hazard.
    16. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears; 'active' belongs to the hazard.
    17. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears.
    18. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears; "active" belongs to the hazard label.
    19. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears anywhere.
    20. absent: No clock time, date, or recency word appears.
    21. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears anywhere.
    22. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears.
    23. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears.
    24. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears anywhere in the text.
    25. absent: No clock time, date or recency word appears; 'active' belongs to the hazard label.
  • Impactabsent7/25

    Final assessment

    Absent by majority, 7 of 25 read it as present. Most found no stated consequence or severity beyond naming the shooter; the dissenters took "defend yourself, as necessary" as implied lethal danger.

    What the hazard could do to the people in its path. Beyond naming the threat, a complete warning conveys its potential consequences or severity, such as that a tornado can level buildings or that a leak could be explosive, so recipients grasp how much danger they are in. Research on warning message content finds that a concrete impact statement helps people personalize their risk and act sooner.

    See all 25 individual reads
    1. absent: No statement of consequence or severity beyond naming the shooter.
    2. absent: No statement of potential harm or severity beyond naming the shooter threat.
    3. absent: No statement of what the shooter could do or how severe the danger is.
    4. absent: No statement of what the shooter could do or how severe the harm might be.
    5. present: 'defend yourself, as necessary' conveys strongly implied lethal danger to recipients.
    6. absent: No statement of consequences or severity beyond naming the shooter threat.
    7. absent: No statement of possible harm or severity beyond naming the shooter.
    8. absent: No statement of what the shooter could do or how severe the danger is.
    9. absent: No statement of what the shooter could do or how severe the harm would be.
    10. absent: No stated consequence or severity beyond naming the shooter threat itself.
    11. present: 'defend yourself, as necessary' conveys implied lethal danger to recipients.
    12. present: 'defend yourself, as necessary' conveys lethal personal danger.
    13. absent: No statement of what the threat could do or how severe the harm would be.
    14. absent: No statement of consequence or severity beyond naming the shooter.
    15. absent: No statement of consequence or severity beyond naming the shooter.
    16. present: 'defend yourself, as necessary' conveys lethal personal danger beyond naming the hazard.
    17. present: Telling people to barricade and "defend yourself, as necessary" conveys lethal danger.
    18. absent: No statement of what the shooter could do or how severe the harm might be.
    19. absent: No statement of harm or severity beyond naming the shooter.
    20. absent: No statement of what the shooter could do or how severe the danger is.
    21. present: 'defend yourself, as necessary' implies lethal personal danger.
    22. absent: No statement of what the shooter could do or how severe the harm is.
    23. absent: No statement of how harmful the shooter could be.
    24. present: "defend yourself, as necessary" conveys lethal personal danger beyond simply naming the hazard.
    25. absent: No statement of what the threat could do or how severe the harm would be.

Coded by Claude Opus 5

Systematic AI judgments with visible reasoning, not human-validated codings.

About this analysis
Context

Background

On the evening of August 24, 2025, USCPD dispatch received two 911 calls within two minutes, at 6:30:42 PM EDT and 6:32:20 PM EDT, from an unknown male claiming an active shooter was at Thomas Cooper Library on the University of South Carolina's Columbia campus. Both calls included background noise that mimicked gunfire, a tactic designed to make the false report sound more credible. The Carolina Alert system sent a full active shooter notification directing students to evacuate, shelter, and defend themselves. Students in the library and surrounding buildings took cover, sending frantic texts to family members. By approximately 7:10 PM EDT, police reported finding no evidence of a shooter but continued sweeping the area. The incident was confirmed as a swatting hoax, part of a nationwide wave of false active shooter reports targeting university libraries in late August 2025. SLED and USCPD launched an investigation, and a Pennsylvania juvenile, a self-identified member of the Purgatory group, was later charged in connection with the USC hoax and a series of 2025 swatting calls at randomly selected universities. Parents and students later questioned whether the university's emergency protocols were adequate for handling swatting incidents.
Analysis

Key Findings

The 911 caller used background noise mimicking gunfire to make the false report sound credible, a sophisticated swatting tactic
The Carolina Alert system sent a full active shooter message with Run-Hide-Fight instructions before the hoax was confirmed
The incident was part of the August 2025 nationwide university swatting wave attributed to the extremist group Purgatory
Outcome
Police found no evidence of a shooting after sweeping the library and surrounding area. The incident was confirmed as a swatting hoax. SLED and USCPD launched an investigation.
Provenance

Sources

Every claim on this page is meant to be checkable. Open the links below (and the Verify this quote control under each confirmed alert) to read the original university, news, or archive page yourself. Hostnames are shown so you can see where you are going; archived copies survive when live pages move or disappear. See also our methodology.

  1. News
    Officials: USC was target of swatting hoax (WIS-TV)
    wistv.com
    archived copy
  2. News
    University of South Carolina lifts active shooter alert at Thomas Cooper Library (WLTX)
    wltx.com
    archived copy
  3. News
    University of South Carolina: Active shooter report was a hoax (CNN)
    cnn.com
    archived copy
  4. Source
    USC Swatting Incident Highlights Growing Trend (Campus Safety Magazine)
    campussafetymagazine.com
    archived copy
  5. News
    Juvenile charged for shooting hoax at South Carolina college (Post and Courier)
    postandcourier.com
    archived copy
  6. Official
    @CarolinaAlert on X
    x.com
    archived copy
  7. Official
    @CarolinaAlert on X (verbatim raw t.co)
    x.com
    archived copy
  8. Social
    @CarolinaAlert
    x.com
    archived copy
  9. Social
    @CarolinaAlert
    x.com
    archived copy
  10. Social
    @CarolinaAlert
    x.com
    archived copy
Cite this case

Campus Alert Archive. "University of South Carolina: False 911 calls with simulated gunfire trigger an active-shooter alert at the library." Incident of August 24, 2025. Added April 2026; last updated August 2026. https://campusalertarchive.com/case/university-of-south-carolina-swatting-2025-08-24/

Download case JSON

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

Tags
swattingactive-shooter-hoaxpurgatorylibrarysouth-carolinarun-hide-fightsimulated-gunfirepublic-universityHoax
Added April 2026Updated August 2026Via ingestion