{
  "id": "2022-09-12-arizona-state-university-yikyak-bomb-threat",
  "slug": "arizona-state-university-yikyak-bomb-threat-2022-09-12",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Arizona State University",
    "shortName": "ASU",
    "state": "AZ",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "ASU Alert",
    "enrollment": 83000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2022-09-12",
    "type": "bomb-threat",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "Yik Yak bomb claims evacuated three buildings overnight; three students arrested",
    "headlinePublic": "Yik Yak bomb claims evacuated three buildings overnight; three students arrested",
    "summary": "Shortly before 9:30 p.m. MST on September 12, 2022, [Arizona State University Police](https://www.azfamily.com/2022/09/13/multiple-bomb-threats-prompt-late-night-evacuations-asu/) received reports of multiple Yik Yak posts claiming bombs had been placed in the Memorial Union and Hassayampa Residence Hall. The posts escalated into a bizarre one-upmanship: one student wrote 'I put the bomb in the MU,' another replied 'No, I put the bomb in the MU,' and a third chimed in 'It's OK guys we all put the bomb in the MU.' The MU, Hassayampa Academic Village, and Barrett Residential Complex were evacuated and swept overnight; [no items of concern were found](https://www.statepress.com/article/2022/09/asu-pd-arrest-bomb-threat). [Three students were arrested and charged with a felony and four misdemeanors each](https://www.azfamily.com/2022/09/14/3-students-arrested-after-fake-bomb-threats-at-arizona-state-university-in-tempe/).",
    "outcome": "No explosives found. Evacuation lasted overnight into September 13. Three students (Lukas Patton, 18; Peter Fraenkel, 18; and Trevor Benoit, 21) were arrested and charged with felony interference/disruption of an educational institution and four misdemeanor counts each.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-hoax"
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Just before 11:30 p.m. MST on September 12, 2022",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "POLICE SITUATION - Tempe campus\n\nASUPD is working a Police Situation at the Memorial Union and Hassayampa Residential Halls.\n\nStay clear of the area until further notice.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/ASUPolice/status/1569560809982013440",
      "sourceDescription": "@ASUPolice on X (verbatim raw t.co)",
      "annotations": [
        "Exact text from official @ASUPolice X status 1569560809982013440 including line breaks."
      ],
      "characterCount": 170,
      "timestamp": "2022-09-12T22:37:12-07:00"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Early morning of September 13, 2022 (MST)",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "FINAL UPDATE - Tempe campus\n\nAll incidents cleared. No items found.\n\nAll campus activity is cleared to return to normal.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceDescription": "@ASUPolice on X (final update all-clear, verbatim)",
      "annotations": [
        "Verbatim full text from official @ASUPolice X final update status 1569604902057558017.",
        "Preserves \"No items found\" and campus-return language exactly."
      ],
      "characterCount": 120,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/ASUPolice/status/1569604902057558017",
      "timestamp": "2022-09-13T01:32:25-07:00"
    }
  ],
  "context": "On the evening of September 12, 2022, a series of anonymous Yik Yak posts claiming bombs had been placed set off a costly overnight bomb scare at Arizona State University. According to [court documents cited by the Arizona State Press](https://www.statepress.com/article/2022/09/asu-pd-arrest-bomb-threat), 21-year-old Trevor Benoit wrote 'I put the bomb in the MU' on Yik Yak; 18-year-old Lukas Patton replied 'No, I put the bomb in the MU' and subsequently added 'It's OK guys we all put the bomb in the MU'; 18-year-old Peter Fraenkel also posted a threat referencing Hassayampa. The posts triggered a multi-building evacuation of the [Memorial Union](https://www.asu.edu/studentunion/) (ASU's main student center) plus [Hassayampa Academic Village](https://housing.asu.edu/communities/hassayampa) and the [Barrett Residential Complex](https://barretthonors.asu.edu/). ASU Police, Tempe Police, and Chandler Police deployed K-9 units and swept the buildings overnight; [no threats were found](https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/arizona/police-investigating-bomb-threat-at-arizona-state-university-in-tempe/75-0fa4f131-0c6f-4bf2-80ef-07027d4c1cbd). All three students were arrested and charged with a [felony count of interference/disruption of an educational institution and four misdemeanor charges](https://www.azfamily.com/2022/09/14/3-students-arrested-after-fake-bomb-threats-at-arizona-state-university-in-tempe/). ASU is among the largest universities in the United States by enrollment, and the Memorial Union is a hub for tens of thousands of students, making the evacuation disruptive. The case is notable for illustrating how Yik Yak's relaunch created an environment where users underestimated law enforcement's ability to trace their posts.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Multiple bomb threats prompt late-night evacuations at ASU (AZFamily)",
      "url": "https://www.azfamily.com/2022/09/13/multiple-bomb-threats-prompt-late-night-evacuations-asu/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "'A bad joke': Three ASU students arrested in relation to Monday bomb threats (Arizona State Press)",
      "url": "https://www.statepress.com/article/2022/09/asu-pd-arrest-bomb-threat",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "3 students arrested after fake bomb threats at Arizona State University in Tempe (AZFamily)",
      "url": "https://www.azfamily.com/2022/09/14/3-students-arrested-after-fake-bomb-threats-at-arizona-state-university-in-tempe/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Bomb threat at ASU Tempe campus causes campus-wide police search (12News)",
      "url": "https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/arizona/police-investigating-bomb-threat-at-arizona-state-university-in-tempe/75-0fa4f131-0c6f-4bf2-80ef-07027d4c1cbd",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "What we know about the ASU bomb threats (Arizona State Press)",
      "url": "https://www.statepress.com/article/2022/09/asu-tempe-bomb-threats",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "@ASUPolice on X (verbatim)",
      "url": "https://x.com/ASUPolice/status/1569560809982013440",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "@ASUPolice on X (final update all-clear, verbatim)",
      "url": "https://x.com/ASUPolice/status/1569604902057558017",
      "type": "official-social"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "bomb-threat",
    "yik-yak",
    "social-media-threat",
    "student-suspect",
    "arrest-made",
    "arizona",
    "tempe",
    "public-r1",
    "anonymous-app",
    "multi-agency-response",
    "evening-threat"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-31",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-18",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}