{
  "id": "2019-10-07-csulb-credible-email-threat",
  "slug": "csulb-credible-email-threat-2019-10-07",
  "institution": {
    "name": "California State University, Long Beach",
    "shortName": "CSULB",
    "state": "CA",
    "type": "public-r2",
    "alertSystemName": "BeachAlert",
    "enrollment": 38000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2019-10-07",
    "type": "threat-of-violence",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "Emailed threat of violence prompts shelter-in-place; student taken into custody",
    "headlinePublic": "Emailed threat of violence prompts shelter-in-place; student taken into custody",
    "summary": "On the afternoon of October 7, 2019, [Cal State Long Beach issued a campus-wide shelter-in-place](https://abc7.com/cal-state-long-beach-threat-csulb-news-university/5601006/) after CSULB Police received an email at approximately 2:10 p.m. PDT threatening acts of violence on campus. The university [posted a 'credible threat' alert on Twitter at 3:40 p.m. PDT](https://x.com/CSULB/status/1181340974561157120) and lifted the shelter-in-place at 4:23 p.m. PDT after taking a female student into custody at the Student Success Center. [The person detained was a CSULB student](https://www.foxla.com/news/police-cal-state-long-beach-student-in-custody-following-lockdown-due-to-credible-threat); a separate suspect was later arrested and [confessed to using the student's email to send the threat](https://ktla.com/2019/10/08/new-suspect-arrested-confesses-to-using-students-email-to-threaten-shooting-at-cal-state-long-beach-campus/).",
    "outcome": "Shelter-in-place lifted at 4:23 p.m. PDT on October 7, 2019, after a female CSULB student was taken into custody without incident at the Student Success Center on campus, where she had an existing appointment. No injuries reported. A separate suspect was arrested the next day and confessed to using the student's email to send the threat.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2019-10-07T15:40:00-07:00",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "CSULB has received a credible threat. Please shelter in place. If not on campus, please stay away. For further information go to http://csulb.edu/alert.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/CSULB/status/1181340974561157120",
      "sourceDescription": "@CSULB on X (verbatim raw t.co)",
      "annotations": [
        "Posted at 3:40 p.m. PDT, approximately 90 minutes after CSULB Police received the threatening email at 2:10 p.m. PDT",
        "The phrasing 'credible threat' without specifying the threat type (shooting, bomb, other) is deliberately nonspecific",
        "The tweet was the earliest public broadcast of the shelter-in-place; BeachAlert SMS followed soon after"
      ],
      "characterCount": 152
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2019-10-07T15:40:00-07:00",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "CSULB BeachALERT! The campus has received a credible threat. Everyone on campus is to move indoors and shelter in place immediately. If not on campus, stay away until further notice. #CSULB",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/csulbpolice/status/1181340983226617857",
      "sourceDescription": "@csulbpolice (CSULB Police Department) official Twitter, posted 3:40 p.m. PDT October 7, 2019, in tandem with the main @CSULB account post",
      "annotations": [
        "Posted by CSULB Police Department's branded Twitter handle (@csulbpolice) seconds after the main @CSULB account's tweet, twin posts give a clear timestamp anchor at 3:40 p.m. PDT",
        "Uses 'BeachALERT' with the trailing 'ALERT' in all caps, matching the branded mass-notification system; main @CSULB account's simultaneous tweet used 'shelter in place' phrasing without the BeachALERT brand",
        "The 'credible threat' framing left the threat type (shooting, bomb, other) unspecified"
      ],
      "characterCount": 189
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestamp": "2019-10-07T16:23:40-07:00",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "CSULB BeachALERT! The situation is ALL CLEAR. Shelter-in-place orders have been lifted. University Police currently have the sole suspect in custody. There is no ongoing threat, and the campus is open for normal operations. #CSULB",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceDescription": "@CSULBPolice on X (verbatim BeachALERT ALL CLEAR)",
      "annotations": [
        "Verified complete alert text on https://x.com/CSULBPolice/status/1181349401526030336 (@CSULBPolice); archiveUrl null (X status). characterCount=230.",
        "All-clear came at 4:23 p.m. PDT on October 7, 2019, 43 minutes after the public Twitter alert and 2 hours, 13 minutes after the initial threatening email",
        "CSULB Police detained the student at the Student Success Center, where she had an existing appointment; a separate suspect later confessed to sending the threat from her email account"
      ],
      "characterCount": 230,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/CSULBPolice/status/1181349401526030336",
      "archiveUrl": null,
      "confidence": "high",
      "lastUpdated": "2026-07-18"
    }
  ],
  "context": "[California State University, Long Beach](https://www.csulb.edu/) is a Hispanic-Serving Institution serving roughly 38,000 students, the second-largest campus in the 23-campus California State University system. On the afternoon of October 7, 2019, [CSULB Police received an emailed threat at approximately 2:10 p.m. PDT](https://lbpost.com/news/breaking-cal-state-long-beach-on-lockdown-after-receiving-credible-threat/) that they deemed credible. CSULB declared a campus-wide shelter-in-place and posted [its first alert on Twitter at 3:40 p.m. PDT](https://x.com/CSULB/status/1181340974561157120), with [BeachAlert SMS following soon after](https://abc7.com/cal-state-long-beach-threat-csulb-news-university/5601006/). At 4:23 p.m. PDT (43 minutes after the public alert) [CSULB Police took a female student into custody](https://patch.com/california/longbeach-ca/threat-leads-shelter-place-cal-state-long-beach) without incident at the Student Success Center, where she had a pre-existing appointment. CSULB lifted the shelter-in-place. The case is significant for the archive because it documents (a) the use of Twitter as a faster-than-SMS broadcast channel, (b) the deliberately nonspecific 'credible threat' framing, and (c) the detention of a student who was later shown not to be the sender of the threat. The same week, [a separate suspect was arrested for using a CSULB student's email to send the threat](https://ktla.com/2019/10/08/new-suspect-arrested-confesses-to-using-students-email-to-threaten-shooting-at-cal-state-long-beach-campus/), illustrating that the female student initially detained was not the actual sender, a complicating factor often lost in the headline coverage.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "An emailed threat received at 2:10 p.m. PDT led to a campus-wide shelter-in-place at one of the largest Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the CSU system; the all-clear came at 4:23 p.m. PDT",
    "CSULB used Twitter as its first public alert channel, ahead of BeachAlert SMS",
    "The 'credible threat' framing without threat-type specification has since become standard CSU language for ambiguous incoming threats",
    "A separate suspect was later charged with using a student's email to send the threat, meaning the woman taken into custody on campus was not the actual sender"
  ],
  "responseTimeMinutes": 90,
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Cal State Long Beach threat: Suspect in custody, shelter-in-place lifted after 'credible threat,' police say — ABC7 Los Angeles",
      "url": "https://abc7.com/cal-state-long-beach-threat-csulb-news-university/5601006/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Emailed threat sparks lockdown at CSULB; suspect in custody — Long Beach Post",
      "url": "https://lbpost.com/news/breaking-cal-state-long-beach-on-lockdown-after-receiving-credible-threat/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Police: Cal State Long Beach student in custody following lockdown due to 'credible threat' — FOX 11 Los Angeles",
      "url": "https://www.foxla.com/news/police-cal-state-long-beach-student-in-custody-following-lockdown-due-to-credible-threat",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "1 in Custody After 'Credible Threat' Made Against Cal State Long Beach; Campus Cleared — KTLA",
      "url": "https://ktla.com/2019/10/07/cal-state-long-beach-campus-on-lockdown-after-credible-threat-made/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "@CSULB official Twitter post — 3:40 p.m. PDT October 7, 2019",
      "url": "https://x.com/CSULB/status/1181340974561157120",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "New Suspect Arrested, Confesses to Using Student's Email to Threaten Shooting at Cal State Long Beach — KTLA",
      "url": "https://ktla.com/2019/10/08/new-suspect-arrested-confesses-to-using-students-email-to-threaten-shooting-at-cal-state-long-beach-campus/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Alert | California State University Long Beach (Official Alert Page)",
      "url": "https://www.csulb.edu/alert",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Hazards/Threats | California State University Long Beach (Official Procedures)",
      "url": "https://www.csulb.edu/university-police/hazardsthreats",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://x.com/CSULBPolice/status/1181349401526030336",
      "type": "social-media",
      "title": "@CSULBPolice on X (verbatim)"
    },
    {
      "title": "@csulbpolice (CSULB Police Department) official Twitter, posted 3:40 p.m. PDT October 7, 2019, in tandem with the main @",
      "url": "https://x.com/csulbpolice/status/1181340983226617857",
      "type": "official-archive"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "threat-of-violence",
    "hsi",
    "hispanic-serving",
    "california",
    "shelter-in-place",
    "beach-alert",
    "csulb",
    "credible-threat",
    "csu-system",
    "twitter-first"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-03",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-18",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}