{
  "id": "2023-04-13-del-mar-college-swatting",
  "slug": "del-mar-college-swatting-2023-04-13",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Del Mar College",
    "shortName": "DMC",
    "state": "TX",
    "type": "community-college",
    "alertSystemName": "DMC Alert",
    "enrollment": 24000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2023-04-13",
    "type": "swatting",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "False active-shooter call prompts a 19-minute shelter-in-place; confirmed as a hoax",
    "headlinePublic": "False active-shooter call prompts a 19-minute shelter-in-place; confirmed as a hoax",
    "summary": "Del Mar College's Heritage Campus in Corpus Christi sheltered in place for about 19 minutes on April 13, 2023, after a hoax active-shooter call, one of at least eight Texas colleges hit by swatting that morning. A [report of an active shooter came in around 10:23 a.m. CDT](https://www.kristv.com/news/local-news/active-shooter-call-at-del-mar-college-confirmed-as-a-hoax-authorities-say) for the campus at 101 Baldwin; DMC sent a shelter-in-place alert at 10:28 a.m. CDT and [issued the all-clear at 10:47 a.m. CDT](https://www.kiiitv.com/article/news/local/dmc-alert-shelter-in-place-near-heritage-campus-due-to-reports-of-possible-active-shooter/503-06a0e048-0f91-4b70-ae5b-4a9a24cf4728) after officers found no evidence of a threat.",
    "outcome": "Police found no shooter and no evidence a shooting occurred. The call was confirmed as a hoax and the all-clear was issued at 10:47 a.m. CDT The caller faced a Class A misdemeanor false-alarm charge.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-hoax"
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2023-04-13T10:28:00-05:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "An emergency, possible active shooter, is reported at DMC Heritage Campus. While this is being verified, shelter in place or avoid the area until advised.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.kiiitv.com/article/news/local/dmc-alert-shelter-in-place-near-heritage-campus-due-to-reports-of-possible-active-shooter/503-06a0e048-0f91-4b70-ae5b-4a9a24cf4728",
      "sourceDescription": "KIII-TV (quoting the DMC Alert shelter-in-place message)",
      "annotations": [
        "Exact DMC Alert text as quoted by KIII-TV; the message hedged with 'possible' and 'while this is being verified,' reflecting that the report was unverified when sent.",
        "The alert went out at 10:28 a.m. CDT, five minutes after the 10:23 a.m. CDT hoax call, a fast turnaround for an unverified active-shooter report."
      ],
      "characterCount": 154
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestamp": "2023-04-13T10:47:00-05:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from Corpus Christi police and DMC statements that the campus was cleared and the all-clear was issued at 10:47 a.m.",
      "annotations": []
    }
  ],
  "context": "On the morning of April 13, 2023, at least eight Texas colleges and universities were hit by hoax active-shooter calls, a coordinated swatting wave that also struck [Tyler Junior College, Texas Wesleyan University, Collin College, Lamar Institute of Technology, Galen College of Nursing, Texas A&M, and Baylor](https://www.kiiitv.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-college-hoax-calls/503-e07b2a35-0f9a-4b46-8c8d-fa278ce60383). At Del Mar College's Heritage Campus, located at 101 Baldwin in Corpus Christi, a [report of an active shooter came in around 10:23 a.m. CDT](https://www.kristv.com/news/local-news/active-shooter-call-at-del-mar-college-confirmed-as-a-hoax-authorities-say). The college sent a shelter-in-place [DMC Alert at 10:28 a.m. CDT](https://www.kiiitv.com/article/news/local/dmc-alert-shelter-in-place-near-heritage-campus-due-to-reports-of-possible-active-shooter/503-06a0e048-0f91-4b70-ae5b-4a9a24cf4728) and issued the all-clear at 10:47 a.m. CDT after officers found no evidence of a threat. It was the second hoax call at the campus in about a month. The caller faced a Class A misdemeanor false-alarm charge, and the FBI later opened an investigation into the statewide swatting pattern.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "Del Mar College's Heritage Campus sheltered in place from 10:28 to 10:47 a.m. CDT on April 13, 2023, a 19-minute window",
    "The incident was one of at least eight Texas campus swatting hoaxes the same morning",
    "It was Del Mar's second hoax call in roughly a month, and the caller faced a false-alarm charge"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Hoax active shooter calls made to Del Mar College, Woodsboro ISD - KIII-TV",
      "url": "https://www.kiiitv.com/article/news/local/dmc-alert-shelter-in-place-near-heritage-campus-due-to-reports-of-possible-active-shooter/503-06a0e048-0f91-4b70-ae5b-4a9a24cf4728",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Active shooter call at Del Mar College confirmed as a hoax, authorities say - KRIS-TV",
      "url": "https://www.kristv.com/news/local-news/active-shooter-call-at-del-mar-college-confirmed-as-a-hoax-authorities-say",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "8 Texas colleges and universities receive hoax calls about active shooter Thursday morning - KIII-TV",
      "url": "https://www.kiiitv.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-college-hoax-calls/503-e07b2a35-0f9a-4b46-8c8d-fa278ce60383",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "swatting",
    "active-shooter-hoax",
    "texas",
    "community-college",
    "corpus-christi",
    "shelter-in-place",
    "emergency-notification",
    "confirmed-hoax",
    "2023-texas-swatting-wave"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-28",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}