{
  "id": "2014-09-25-gonzaga-university-bomb-threat-campus-evacuation",
  "slug": "gonzaga-university-bomb-threat-campus-evacuation-2014-09-25",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Gonzaga University",
    "shortName": "Gonzaga",
    "state": "WA",
    "type": "private-r2",
    "alertSystemName": "ZagAlert"
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2014-09-25",
    "type": "bomb-threat",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "no-explosive-found",
    "headline": "Phoned bomb threat empties all campus buildings for three hours; no device found",
    "headlinePublic": "Phoned bomb threat empties all campus buildings for three hours; no device found",
    "summary": "At approximately 7:00 AM PDT on Thursday, September 25, 2014, [Spokane police received a call from a male stating there was a bomb on the Gonzaga University campus](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/sep/25/police-bomb-threat-reported-gonzaga-university/). All campus buildings were evacuated as Spokane Police's Explosives Disposal Unit and Gonzaga Security conducted a building-by-building sweep. [Gonzaga rapidly emailed all students to evacuate all academic and administrative buildings](https://www.thespreadit.com/gonzaga-bomb-threat-33292/). The campus was cleared by approximately 10:00 AM PDT, and classes scheduled for 10:30 AM PDT resumed normally. No explosive device was found.",
    "outcome": "Campus cleared by approximately 10:00 AM PDT. No explosive device found. Classes resumed for 10:30 AM PDT and later time slots. The bomb threat was called in from an off-campus phone number.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 7:00 AM PDT on September 25, 2014, shortly after police received the bomb threat call",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "A police emergency has been identified on the Gonzaga University, a non-specific bomb threat. Please evacuate all academic and administrative buildings.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.thespreadit.com/gonzaga-bomb-threat-33292/",
      "sourceDescription": "The Spreadit and The Easterner (Eastern Washington University student newspaper) both quote this exact ZagAlert email text sent to all students after police received the bomb threat at approximately 7:00 AM PDT; The Easterner reported Gonzaga students received the email 'rapidly'",
      "annotations": [
        "Sent at approximately 7:00 AM PDT on September 25, 2014, shortly after police received the threat call; The Easterner reported students received the email 'rapidly'",
        "The phrase 'identified on the Gonzaga University' is preserved exactly as transmitted, with the original grammar intact",
        "The instruction to evacuate 'all academic and administrative buildings' dispersed people away from structures rather than directing them to shelter in place"
      ],
      "characterCount": 152
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 10:00 AM PDT on September 25, 2014",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from The Spokesman-Review reporting that 'all campus buildings were cleared as safe for re-entry around 10 a.m. following a search of all buildings'; classes scheduled for 10:30 AM resumed normally",
      "annotations": []
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "All buildings on Gonzaga campus cleared and classes are resuming after bomb threat (The Spokesman-Review)",
      "url": "https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/sep/25/police-bomb-threat-reported-gonzaga-university/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Bomb threat at GU quickly resolved (The Spokesman-Review)",
      "url": "http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/sep/26/bomb-threat-at-gu-quickly-resolved/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Gonzaga Bomb Threat: Campus Cleared After University Bomb Threat (The Spreadit)",
      "url": "https://www.thespreadit.com/gonzaga-bomb-threat-33292/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Gonzaga bomb threat sets off questions (The Easterner, Eastern Washington University)",
      "url": "https://theeasterner.org/33836/news/gonzaga-bomb-threat-sets-off-questions/",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    }
  ],
  "context": "[Gonzaga University, a Jesuit Catholic institution in Spokane, Washington, founded in 1887](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzaga_University), received a non-specific bomb threat on the morning of September 25, 2014. Police were called just before 7:00 AM PDT by a male caller who stated there was a bomb on the campus. Gonzaga issued a ZagAlert email to all students almost immediately, directing evacuation of all academic and administrative buildings. [Spokane Police's Explosives Disposal Unit and Gonzaga Security conducted a systematic sweep of all campus buildings](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/sep/25/police-bomb-threat-reported-gonzaga-university/), a process that took approximately three hours on the 131-acre campus. The campus was cleared and deemed safe by approximately 10:00 AM PDT. [Classes scheduled for 10:30 AM PDT and later resumed normally](http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/sep/26/bomb-threat-at-gu-quickly-resolved/). The threat was placed from an off-campus phone number. No arrest was announced in the initial reporting. The Easterner (Eastern Washington University's student newspaper) covered the story and raised questions about Gonzaga's communication speed and bomb threat protocols, reflecting broader student-media scrutiny of campus emergency response across Spokane's higher education community. No explosive device was found.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The verbatim ZagAlert email ('A police emergency has been identified on the Gonzaga University, a non-specific bomb threat') preserves an authentic grammatical imperfection exactly as transmitted",
    "A non-specific threat requiring a full campus sweep took approximately three hours on Gonzaga's 131-acre campus",
    "The Gonzaga bomb threat prompted cross-campus media scrutiny from Eastern Washington University's student newspaper, reflecting how bomb threats at one Spokane-area institution generate concern across the wider regional higher education community"
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "bomb-threat",
    "evacuation",
    "no-device-found",
    "spokane",
    "washington",
    "private-r2",
    "jesuit",
    "catholic",
    "zag-alert",
    "2014",
    "morning-threat"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-31",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}