{
  "id": "2025-08-28-emporia-state-university-newman-hospital-false-alarm",
  "slug": "emporia-state-university-newman-hospital-false-alarm-2025-08-28",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Emporia State University",
    "shortName": "ESU",
    "state": "KS",
    "type": "public-masters",
    "alertSystemName": "ESU Alert / Hornet Ready",
    "enrollment": 5500
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2025-08-28",
    "type": "active-shooter",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "Active-shooter alert at an adjacent hospital traced to damaged alarm wiring; no threat",
    "headlinePublic": "Active-shooter alert at an adjacent hospital traced to damaged alarm wiring; no threat",
    "summary": "On the evening of August 28, 2025, Emporia State University sent an active-shooter alert after a report of a shooter at adjacent Newman Regional Health, telling people near the area to 'Run. Hide. Fight.' [Emporia Police later determined](https://www.kwch.com/2025/08/28/active-shooter-reported-newman-regional-health-emporia/) the alarm was triggered by a malfunctioning emergency switch, a [third-party vendor installing hand-sanitizer dispensers struck wiring behind a wall](https://www.kwch.com/2025/08/29/false-active-shooter-alarm-emporia-hospital-caused-by-hand-sanitizer-work/). Officers swept the hospital and found no shots fired and no threat, and an all-clear was given.",
    "outcome": "No shooter, no shots fired, and no injuries. The alarm was traced to a vendor accidentally striking wiring while installing hand-sanitizer dispensers at the hospital. Police gave an all-clear after a comprehensive sweep.",
    "resolution": "unfounded",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 4:40 p.m. CDT on August 28, 2025",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "ESU Alert: An active shooter has been reported at Newman Regional Health. If you are near the area: Run. Hide. Fight. If you are off campus, remain away.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/emporiastate/status/1961182134695022898",
      "sourceDescription": "Emporia State University official X (Twitter) account",
      "annotations": [
        "Posted verbatim from ESU's official X account at roughly 4:40 p.m. CDT; the 'Run. Hide. Fight.' formula is the standard federal active-shooter guidance.",
        "Newman Regional Health sits immediately adjacent to the ESU campus, so a hospital alarm fell within the university's emergency-notification radius even though it was not a university building.",
        "The alert directs off-campus recipients to 'remain away,' an unusually specific instruction that distinguishes those near the scene from the wider community."
      ],
      "characterCount": 153
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "ESU Alert (Emporia) - ALL CLEAR. The reported active shooter at Newman Regional Health appears to have been a false alarm. Resume normal activities.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceDescription": "@emporiastate on X (verbatim ALL CLEAR false alarm)",
      "annotations": [
        "Full text from official @emporiastate X status; '(Emporia)' location tag and 'appears to have been a false alarm' wording preserved",
        "Differs from prior reconstruction which attributed all-clear language to Emporia Police"
      ],
      "characterCount": 148,
      "timestamp": "2025-08-28T18:27:23-05:00",
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/emporiastate/status/1961209022259814721"
    }
  ],
  "context": "Emporia State University, a public master's institution of about 5,500 students in east-central Kansas, sits next to Newman Regional Health, so a hospital emergency can spill directly into the university's alert radius. On the evening of August 28, 2025, ESU pushed an active-shooter alert after a report of a shooter at the hospital, telling those nearby to 'Run. Hide. Fight.' per the university's [official X account](https://x.com/emporiastate/status/1961182134695022898). According to [KWCH](https://www.kwch.com/2025/08/28/active-shooter-reported-newman-regional-health-emporia/), Emporia Police searched the premises and found no evidence of any shots fired and no threat. The following day [KWCH reported](https://www.kwch.com/2025/08/29/false-active-shooter-alarm-emporia-hospital-caused-by-hand-sanitizer-work/) the alarm had been triggered when a third-party vendor installing hand-sanitizer dispensers struck wiring behind a wall, tripping an emergency switch. The episode arrived during a tense late-August 2025 stretch when [swatting and false reports were hitting campuses nationwide](https://www.ksnt.com/news/local-news/active-shooter-reported-at-newman-regional-health/), heightening anxiety even though this incident was an accidental alarm rather than a deliberate hoax.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The verbatim initial alert is preserved from ESU's official X account: 'Run. Hide. Fight.', the standard federal active-shooter formula",
    "The threat originated at an adjacent hospital, illustrating how universities must notify for incidents in immediately neighboring non-campus buildings",
    "The cause was accidental (a hand-sanitizer installer striking wiring) making the incident 'unfounded' rather than a hoax or swatting",
    "The alert landed amid a national wave of August 2025 campus swatting reports, amplifying community fear over what proved to be a maintenance accident"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Emporia Police say malfunctioning emergency switch triggered active shooter alarm - KWCH",
      "url": "https://www.kwch.com/2025/08/28/active-shooter-reported-newman-regional-health-emporia/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "ESU Alert post - Emporia State University official X account",
      "url": "https://x.com/emporiastate/status/1961182134695022898",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "False active shooter alarm at Emporia hospital caused by hand-sanitizer work - KWCH",
      "url": "https://www.kwch.com/2025/08/29/false-active-shooter-alarm-emporia-hospital-caused-by-hand-sanitizer-work/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "'Run. Hide. Fight.': Active shooter reported at Newman Regional Health in Emporia - KSNT",
      "url": "https://www.ksnt.com/news/local-news/active-shooter-reported-at-newman-regional-health/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "No threat found following active shooter alert at hospital in Emporia, Kansas - BNO News",
      "url": "https://bnonews.com/index.php/2025/08/no-threat-found-following-active-shooter-alert-at-hospital-in-emporia-kansas/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "@emporiastate X — Newman Regional Health ALL CLEAR",
      "url": "https://x.com/emporiastate/status/1961209022259814721",
      "type": "social-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "active-shooter",
    "false-alarm",
    "emergency-notification",
    "kansas",
    "run-hide-fight",
    "hospital",
    "emporia-state"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-28",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-17",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}