Campus Alert Archive
Vassar

Social media bomb and shooter hoax empties a dorm on move-in day

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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 29, 2025, an anonymous post on the college social media platform Fizz warned of a bomb in a third-floor restroom and an active shooter at a Vassar College dormitory during move-in day. Multiple law enforcement agencies, including K-9 units, responded and evacuated Davison House. The building was searched and cleared. Former student Nigel Trenh was later arrested by the FBI in connection with the hoax.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
Vassar College
Private Liberal Arts · NY
All Vassar cases →
~2,500 students
Official alert policy
Read when and how Vassar says it will use Vassar Emergency Notification System: summarized, quoted, and analyzed.
Documented Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence · 1 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.

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 ALERTPush
Wording not yet recovered

A message was sent at this point in the sequence; its exact wording has not yet been recovered from the official record, so no text is shown. This site never paraphrases or reconstructs alert wording. Markers like this one keep the emergency's true shape and become word-for-word messages as recovery reaches the source.

ALL CLEARPush
Wording not yet recovered

A message was sent at this point in the sequence; its exact wording has not yet been recovered from the official record, so no text is shown. This site never paraphrases or reconstructs alert wording. Markers like this one keep the emergency's true shape and become word-for-word messages as recovery reaches the source.

FOLLOW-UPEmail
Verified verbatim885 chars
2 p.m., August 29, 2025 Dear all, As you have read in the emergency alert update, the bomb threat made earlier today has been determined with certainty to be a hoax. Davison House has been cleared by police, authorities, and Campus Safety, and students have been told that they may re-enter their dorm. The investigation to determine who is responsible for this hoax is ongoing. We will update the campus community when we have more information. This situation has been disturbing and unsettling for our community. Thank you to Campus Safety, Davison House Team members, and Residential Life for helping to resolve the situation quickly and safely. For students who require additional support, please be sure to refer to our Wellness Resources. If you have any questions, please reach out to me. Elizabeth H. Bradley, President Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY 12604 @ehowebradley
Verify this quote
Vassar President community: Follow-up to this morning's alert — Elizabeth H. Bradley lettervassar.edufind archived copies
2026-09-13 catch-up b23 P2 .edu. Dual HTML extract of the Dear all letter through the Bradley signature. Independent second-blind sha agreement. Seq 1-2 reconstructed emergency alerts stay unconfirmed. First burst not newly confirmed: no 25-pass.
Context

Background

On the morning of August 29, 2025, Vassar College students discovered a threatening post on Fizz, a social media platform for college students, warning of a bomb in a third-floor restroom and an active shooter at a campus dormitory. The post appeared on move-in day, when new and returning students and their families were on campus. Students reported the post to campus security, who contacted the Town of Poughkeepsie police. The college received the threat around 9:40 AM EDT and law enforcement from multiple agencies converged on campus and evacuated Davison House. K-9 units conducted a full sweep of the premises, and President Elizabeth Bradley updated the community via email at 2:00 PM EDT that the threat had been determined to be a hoax after police and Campus Safety concluded their search. The Miscellany News, Vassar's student newspaper, reported the threat was directed at Davison House. In December 2025, FBI agents arrested Nigel Trenh at his Los Angeles home. Trenh, a former Vassar student whose LinkedIn indicated he intended to graduate in 2026, was charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York with anonymously posting the false threats. Investigators found the Fizz post was part of a broader pattern of threatening and harassing communications targeting Vassar personnel, including emails and messages referencing on-campus violence.
Analysis

Key Findings

The threat was posted on Fizz, a college-specific social media platform, rather than through a traditional 911 swatting call
The perpetrator was a former student with an apparent grudge, not a random swatting group
FBI arrested former student Nigel Trenh in Los Angeles in December 2025, months after the move-in day incident
Outcome
Davison House was evacuated, searched by K-9 units, and cleared. No bomb or shooter was found. In December 2025, the FBI arrested former Vassar student Nigel Trenh in Los Angeles and charged him with making the hoax threats.
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. Official
    Follow-up on this Morning's Alert pt II (Vassar College, President's Office)
    vassar.edu
    archived copy
  2. Student Paper
    Hoax bomb threat directed at Davison (The Miscellany News)
    miscellanynews.org
    archived copy
  3. News
    Former Vassar student arrested in bomb hoax (Mid Hudson News)
    midhudsonnews.com
    archived copy
  4. News
    Feds Charge Former Vassar Student Over Move-In Day Campus Bomb Threat (Patch)
    patch.com
    archived copy
  5. Source
    Former Vassar College student allegedly spread bomb threat, active shooter hoax (MCAC)
    mcac.maryland.gov
    archived copy
  6. Source
    Former Vassar student Nigel Trenh arrested in campus bomb/active-shooter hoax (GJL&L Criminal Lawyer Blog)
    gjllp.com
    archived copy
Cite this case

Campus Alert Archive. "Vassar College: Social media bomb and shooter hoax empties a dorm on move-in day." Incident of August 29, 2025. Added May 2026; last updated September 2026. https://campusalertarchive.com/case/vassar-college-bomb-threat-2025-08-29/

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

Tags
bomb-threatactive-shooter-hoaxsocial-media-threatfizznew-yorkliberal-artsmove-in-dayfbi-arrestformer-studentdavison-houseHoax
Added May 2026Updated September 2026Via ingestion