{
  "id": "2024-03-29-bucknell-university-active-shooter-swatting",
  "slug": "bucknell-university-active-shooter-swatting-2024-03-29",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Bucknell University",
    "shortName": "Bucknell",
    "state": "PA",
    "type": "private-liberal-arts",
    "alertSystemName": "BUAlert (Rave Mobile Safety)",
    "enrollment": 3900
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2024-03-29",
    "type": "swatting",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "hoax",
    "headline": "Active-shooter report prompts a 58-minute lockdown; determined to be a swatting hoax",
    "headlinePublic": "Active-shooter report prompts a 58-minute lockdown; determined to be a swatting hoax",
    "summary": "On Good Friday evening, March 29, 2024, [Bucknell University Public Safety received a tip-line call](https://bucknellian.net/125557/news/public-safety-improves-emergency-response-following-march-29-swatting-incident/) reporting an active shooter on the central-Pennsylvania campus. The first BUAlert went out at approximately 6:37 PM EDT instructing the community to shelter in place, and the all-clear was issued around 7:35 PM EDT, a 58-minute emergency that turned out to be the [university's first swatting incident](https://www.sungazette.com/news/top-news/2024/03/bucknell-university-active-shooter-reports-a-hoax/), traced to a caller in Virginia and investigated by the Pennsylvania State Police and FBI.",
    "outcome": "No threat was found. Bucknell Public Safety, the Lewisburg Borough Police, and the Pennsylvania State Police searched the campus and confirmed the call was a hoax originating from Virginia. In response, Bucknell mandated automatic enrollment in BUAlert for all students and employees and created a follow-up communication-improvements plan led by Chief Anthony Morgan. The same coordinated swatting wave hit dozens of campuses through 2024–2025 and culminated in the August–September 2025 surge.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2024-03-29T18:37:00-04:00",
      "timestampApprox": "6:37 PM EDT on March 29, 2024",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "Bucknell Public Safety is responding to reports of an active shooter. Campus is on lockdown. All students, employees and visitors are instructed to shelter in place until further notice",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.wkok.com/active-shooter-reported-at-bucknell-university/",
      "sourceDescription": "WKOK Newsradio 1070 quoting the Bucknell University Facebook alert post verbatim",
      "annotations": [
        "Sent at 6:37 PM EDT on Good Friday; the long Easter weekend meant a partially emptied campus",
        "Verbatim text as quoted by WKOK from Bucknell University's official Facebook alert post on March 29, 2024",
        "Bucknell had not previously experienced a swatting call; per the Bucknellian's retrospective, the Public Safety Department had no internal SOP for hoax verification beyond standard active-threat protocols"
      ],
      "characterCount": 185
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2024-03-29T19:00:00-04:00",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 7:00 PM EDT on March 29, 2024",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from local21news and Fox56 reporting that Bucknell sent follow-up BUAlerts during the lockdown stating the search continued and no shooter had been sighted",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestamp": "2024-03-29T19:35:00-04:00",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 7:35 PM EDT on March 29, 2024",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from WNEP and buvoice.com reporting that Bucknell issued an all-clear approximately one hour after the initial alert",
      "annotations": []
    }
  ],
  "context": "Bucknell is a [Patriot League private liberal arts university](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucknell_University) of about 3,900 students in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, along the West Branch of the Susquehanna. On Good Friday evening, March 29, 2024, [Bucknell Public Safety received a tip call](https://www.sungazette.com/news/top-news/2024/03/bucknell-university-active-shooter-reports-a-hoax/) reporting an active shooter on campus. The university issued its first BUAlert at 6:37 PM EDT instructing the community to shelter in place. Lewisburg Borough Police, Pennsylvania State Police, and the FBI responded; an [hour-long sweep](https://local21news.com/news/local/bucknell-university-experiences-lockdown-after-reports-of-active-shooter) found no shooter, and the all-clear was issued around 7:35 PM EDT. State police later confirmed the call originated from Virginia and was part of the same coordinated wave of campus swattings that hit dozens of US institutions in 2023–2024. In the aftermath, Bucknell mandated automatic [BUAlert enrollment for all students and staff](https://bucknellian.net/125557/news/public-safety-improves-emergency-response-following-march-29-swatting-incident/), and Chief Anthony Morgan led a public-facing review of response gaps. The incident was Bucknell's first swatting; the institution went on to experience two more in [August 2025](https://buvoice.com/7026/news/cu-responds-to-fake-active-shooter-report-at-bucknell-university/) and September 2025.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "Bucknell's lockdown lasted approximately 58 minutes (6:37 to 7:35 PM EDT), with the Good Friday timing leaving the campus partially emptied",
    "In the aftermath, Bucknell mandated automatic BUAlert enrollment for all students and employees",
    "Bucknell experienced two more swatting incidents, in August and September 2025",
    "Bucknell Public Safety discussed its response and improvement plan publicly through the Bucknellian after the incident"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Bucknell University: Active shooter reports 'a hoax' (Williamsport Sun-Gazette)",
      "url": "https://www.sungazette.com/news/top-news/2024/03/bucknell-university-active-shooter-reports-a-hoax/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Public Safety improves emergency response following March 29 swatting incident (The Bucknellian)",
      "url": "https://bucknellian.net/125557/news/public-safety-improves-emergency-response-following-march-29-swatting-incident/",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "Update: Officials say active shooter alert at Bucknell was a hoax (WNEP)",
      "url": "https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/union-county/alert-for-active-shooter-at-bucknell-university-union-county/523-76e95e2e-d61a-462b-b931-ce3fdd18f966",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Bucknell University experiences lockdown after reports of an active shooter (local21news)",
      "url": "https://local21news.com/news/local/bucknell-university-experiences-lockdown-after-reports-of-active-shooter",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Bucknell University on lockdown due to reports of active shooter (FOX56)",
      "url": "https://fox56.com/news/local/bucknell-university-on-lockdown-due-to-reports-of-active-shooter",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "WKOK Newsradio 1070 quoting the Bucknell University Facebook alert post verbatim",
      "url": "https://www.wkok.com/active-shooter-reported-at-bucknell-university/",
      "type": "other"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "swatting",
    "active-shooter-hoax",
    "patriot-league",
    "private-liberal-arts",
    "pennsylvania",
    "lewisburg",
    "good-friday",
    "fbi-investigation",
    "rave-mobile-safety"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-14",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16",
  "addedBy": "ingestion",
  "responseTimeMinutes": 0
}