{
  "id": "2025-11-11-mercer-university-bomb-threat",
  "slug": "mercer-university-bomb-threat-2025-11-11",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Mercer University",
    "shortName": "Mercer",
    "state": "GA",
    "type": "private-r2",
    "alertSystemName": "Mercer Alert",
    "enrollment": 9000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2025-11-11",
    "type": "bomb-threat",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-hoax",
    "headline": "A German-Routed Email Names the Admissions Center: Mercer Shelters in Place for a Bomb Threat 76 Days After Its August Swatting",
    "summary": "On November 11, 2025, an [emailed bomb threat targeting the Emily Parker Myers Admissions Center prompted Mercer University to issue a shelter-in-place order on its Macon campus](https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/local/macon/bomb-threat-mercer-university-admission-center-bibb-county-sheriff-sweeping-facility-university/93-ef8761d9-0e46-4687-a9a3-76cb702ab86a) shortly after the threat arrived at approximately 12:42 PM EST. Bibb County Sheriff's deputies and the Macon-Bibb Fire Department swept the building, found no device, and the [shelter-in-place was lifted at approximately 2:15 PM EST](https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/11/11/bomb-threat-reported-mercer-university/); investigators traced the email to an IP address routed in Germany and deemed the threat a hoax.",
    "outcome": "No explosive device was found and no one was harmed. The Bibb County Sheriff's Office and Mercer Police ruled the emailed threat a hoax; investigators said the message came from an email account whose IP address was routed in Germany. The university announced at approximately 2:49 PM EST that access to the Admissions Building and surrounding areas had been restored. The incident came less than three months after an August 27, 2025 active-threat swatting call against the same campus."
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 12:58 PM EST on November 11, 2025",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "Mercer Police have received a bomb threat. Shelter in place and avoid the Admissions area until further notice.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.mercercluster.com/article/2025/11/active-threat-reported-on-campus",
      "sourceDescription": "The Mercer Cluster student newspaper (reconstructed shelter-in-place wording)",
      "annotations": [
        "Reconstructed from coverage — The Mercer Cluster reported that Mercer Police (MerPo) told students and faculty to shelter in place after a bomb threat was emailed to the admissions address, but did not publish the exact verbatim wording of the initial Mercer Alert message",
        "The triggering email arrived at approximately 12:42 PM EST and the Mercer Alert shelter-in-place message went out at approximately 12:58 PM EST, an interval of roughly 16 minutes",
        "The threat specifically named the Emily Parker Myers Admissions Center (the Myers Admission Welcome Center), the building toward which the law-enforcement response was concentrated"
      ],
      "characterCount": 111
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 2:49 PM EST on November 11, 2025",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "The shelter-in-place has been lifted. Access to the Admissions Building and surrounding areas has been restored.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.mercercluster.com/article/2025/11/active-threat-reported-on-campus",
      "sourceDescription": "The Mercer Cluster student newspaper (reconstructed all-clear wording)",
      "annotations": [
        "Reconstructed from coverage — The Mercer Cluster and Atlanta News First reported that the shelter-in-place was lifted and that access to the Admissions Building and surrounding areas had been restored at approximately 2:49 PM EST, but the exact verbatim wording of the all-clear message was not published (the reported phrase is a journalistic paraphrase, not a quoted notification)",
        "Outlets variously placed the lifting of the shelter-in-place between approximately 2:00 PM EST (building deemed safe) and 2:15 PM EST (shelter-in-place officially lifted), with the restored-access announcement following at 2:49 PM EST",
        "No portion of the November 11 Mercer Alert sequence was reproduced word-for-word in available reporting, so both alerts in this case are honestly marked reconstructed"
      ],
      "characterCount": 112
    }
  ],
  "context": "[Mercer University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercer_University) is a private R2 university in Macon, Georgia, enrolling roughly 9,000 students. On Tuesday, November 11, 2025, [a bomb threat was emailed to the university's admissions address at approximately 12:42 PM EST](https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/bomb-threat-mercer-university-admission-center-bibb-county-sheriff-sweeping-facility-university/93-ef8761d9-0e46-4687-a9a3-76cb702ab86a), claiming there was a bomb in the Emily Parker Myers Admissions Center. Mercer Police issued a shelter-in-place order, and [Bibb County Sheriff's deputies and the Macon-Bibb Fire Department responded and swept the building](https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/local/macon/bomb-threat-mercer-university-admission-center-bibb-county-sheriff-sweeping-facility-university/93-ef8761d9-0e46-4687-a9a3-76cb702ab86a), finding no device. The [shelter-in-place was lifted by approximately 2:15 PM EST](https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/11/11/bomb-threat-reported-mercer-university/), and the university announced at approximately 2:49 PM EST that access to the building and surrounding areas had been restored. Investigators [traced the email to an IP address routed in Germany and treated the threat as a hoax](https://wgxa.tv/news/local/mercer-university-issues-shelter-in-place-order-amid-active-bomb-threat-to-campus-building-per-director-of-media-relations-jennifer-fairfield-bibb-county-sheriffs-office-macon-bibb-fire-department-crime). This bomb threat is a distinct incident from Mercer's [August 27, 2025 active-threat swatting call](https://www.mercercluster.com/article/2025/08/active-threat-reported-on-campus), which was a phoned-in false active-shooter report, and from the March 12, 2026 tornado-warning event also documented in this archive.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "Unlike Mercer's August 2025 swatting, which was a phoned-in active-threat call, the November 11, 2025 threat arrived by email to the university's admissions address and specifically named the Emily Parker Myers Admissions Center",
    "Investigators traced the threatening email to an IP address routed in Germany, illustrating the cross-border, remotely-spoofed nature of the 2025-2026 campus threat wave",
    "No portion of the Mercer Alert sequence was published word-for-word; coverage paraphrased both the shelter-in-place order and the all-clear, so both alerts are honestly marked reconstructed"
  ],
  "responseTimeMinutes": 16,
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "UPDATE: Shelter-in-place lifted after bomb threat emailed into Mercer (The Mercer Cluster)",
      "url": "https://www.mercercluster.com/article/2025/11/active-threat-reported-on-campus",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "Bomb threat made against Mercer University's admission center; sweep confirms no threat (13WMAZ)",
      "url": "https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/local/macon/bomb-threat-mercer-university-admission-center-bibb-county-sheriff-sweeping-facility-university/93-ef8761d9-0e46-4687-a9a3-76cb702ab86a",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Bomb threat made against Mercer University's admission center (11Alive)",
      "url": "https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/bomb-threat-mercer-university-admission-center-bibb-county-sheriff-sweeping-facility-university/93-ef8761d9-0e46-4687-a9a3-76cb702ab86a",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "All-clear given at Mercer University after reported bomb threat (Atlanta News First)",
      "url": "https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/11/11/bomb-threat-reported-mercer-university/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "'It's a risk' | Mercer University secured after bomb threat, law enforcement cautions hoax (WGXA)",
      "url": "https://wgxa.tv/news/local/mercer-university-issues-shelter-in-place-order-amid-active-bomb-threat-to-campus-building-per-director-of-media-relations-jennifer-fairfield-bibb-county-sheriffs-office-macon-bibb-fire-department-crime",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Hoax bomb threat reported at Mercer University in Macon (FOX 5 Atlanta)",
      "url": "https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/hoax-bomb-threat-reported-mercer-university-macon",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "bomb-threat",
    "hoax",
    "email-threat",
    "private-university",
    "georgia",
    "macon",
    "shelter-in-place",
    "admissions-center",
    "international-ip",
    "campus-threat-wave"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-06-21",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-06-21",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}