{
  "id": "2025-01-11-mississippi-state-old-main-bomb-threat",
  "slug": "mississippi-state-old-main-bomb-threat-2025-01-11",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Mississippi State University",
    "shortName": "MSU",
    "state": "MS",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "Maroon Alert",
    "alertPlatform": "Everbridge",
    "enrollment": 23000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2025-01-11",
    "type": "bomb-threat",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "unfounded",
    "headline": "Phoned bomb threat targets two buildings; sweep finds no explosives",
    "headlinePublic": "Phoned bomb threat targets two buildings; sweep finds no explosives",
    "summary": "On the morning of Saturday, January 11, 2025, Mississippi State University Police received a phoned-in [bomb threat targeting the Old Main Academic Center and the campus Barnes & Noble bookstore](https://www.yahoo.com/news/bomb-threat-2-locations-mississippi-152333328.html). A Maroon Alert went out at 8:13 a.m. CST directing students and employees to avoid the two buildings while officers and bomb-detection canines [searched the locations](https://cdispatch.com/news/no-explosives-found-at-msu-after-maroon-alert/). Police concluded the search and cleared campus by 9:12 a.m. CST, only 59 minutes after the initial alert.",
    "outcome": "No explosive devices were found. The Starkville campus had been closed Friday for winter weather, and the Old Main Academic Center had electronic locks that would have logged any unauthorized access, helping investigators conclude there was no credible threat. Campus returned to normal operations in time for the MSU men's basketball game against Kentucky that evening at Humphrey Coliseum.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2025-01-11T08:13:00-06:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "University Police are responding to a Bomb Threat at Old Main Academic Center and Barnes & Noble. Avoid these areas while investigations continue.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.herestarkville.com/mississippi-state-university-bomb-threats/",
      "sourceDescription": "Here Starkville (local news) reproducing the Maroon Alert text",
      "annotations": [
        "Sent at 8:13 a.m. CST on Saturday, January 11, 2025, after MSU Police received a phoned-in threat just before 8:00 a.m. CST",
        "Names two specific buildings, the Old Main Academic Center (the largest classroom building on campus) and the campus Barnes & Noble, rather than asking the whole campus to shelter",
        "Uses 'avoid' rather than 'shelter in place,' reflecting a search-and-clear posture rather than a presumed active threat"
      ],
      "characterCount": 146
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestamp": "2025-01-11T09:12:00-06:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "Police have concluded their search. Campus is returning to normal operations.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.herestarkville.com/mississippi-state-university-bomb-threats/",
      "sourceDescription": "Here Starkville (local news) reproducing the Maroon Alert text",
      "annotations": [
        "Sent at 9:12 a.m. CST, 59 minutes after the initial alert",
        "Does not name a specific threat resolution ('cleared,' 'hoax,' 'unfounded'), simply announces normal operations resume",
        "The brevity reflects the rapid clearance after Old Main's electronic access logs and a canine sweep showed no signs of tampering or devices"
      ],
      "characterCount": 77
    }
  ],
  "responseTimeMinutes": 13,
  "context": "Mississippi State's January 11, 2025 bomb threat came at an unusual moment: the [Starkville campus had been closed the day before for winter weather](https://www.herestarkville.com/msu-bomb-threats-response/), spring semester classes were set to begin the following Wednesday, and the MSU men's basketball team was hosting Kentucky for a 7:30 p.m. CST tipoff at Humphrey Coliseum that very evening. MSU Police received the phoned-in threat just before 8:00 a.m. CST, targeting the [Old Main Academic Center and the campus Barnes & Noble bookstore](https://www.yahoo.com/news/bomb-threat-2-locations-mississippi-152333328.html). A Maroon Alert went out at 8:13 a.m. CST and officers, supported by bomb-detection canine units, conducted a sweep of both buildings. The Old Main Academic Center, the largest classroom building on the Starkville campus, had electronic card-access locks on all of its doors, and a [review of the access logs showed no unauthorized entries](https://cdispatch.com/news/no-explosives-found-at-msu-after-maroon-alert/) overnight, helping investigators quickly conclude the threat was not credible. By 9:12 a.m. CST (only 59 minutes after the initial alert) the all-clear was issued. The incident extended a pattern of bomb-threat hoaxes targeting MSU; the university had arrested a student over a [separate fall 2023 hoax that disrupted operations](https://www.msstate.edu/newsroom/article/2023/10/arrest-made-bomb-threat-hoax-disrupted-university-activities-msu-will-seek). The Maroon Alert system, delivered via SMS, email, phone calls, the Maroon Alert app, and social media, is operated through the [university's emergency information office](https://www.emergency.msstate.edu/maroon-alert).",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The 59-minute alert-to-all-clear window was made possible in part because Old Main's electronic door logs let investigators verify nobody had entered the building overnight",
    "MSU chose 'avoid these areas' rather than a campus-wide shelter-in-place, a calibrated response that limited disruption while preserving the search perimeter",
    "Saturday-morning timing during a closed-campus weather day meant most students were off campus, reducing exposure at the time of the threat"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "A bomb threat at 2 locations at Mississippi State University investigated, nothing found (Clarion-Ledger via Yahoo News)",
      "url": "https://www.yahoo.com/news/bomb-threat-2-locations-mississippi-152333328.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "No explosives found at MSU after Maroon Alert (The Commercial Dispatch)",
      "url": "https://cdispatch.com/news/no-explosives-found-at-msu-after-maroon-alert/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Mississippi State University Bomb Threats Prompt Alert (Here Starkville)",
      "url": "https://www.herestarkville.com/mississippi-state-university-bomb-threats/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Mississippi State University bomb threats response (Here Starkville)",
      "url": "https://www.herestarkville.com/msu-bomb-threats-response/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "The Maroon Alert System (MSU Emergency Information)",
      "url": "https://www.emergency.msstate.edu/maroon-alert",
      "type": "official-archive"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "bomb-threat",
    "sec-flagship",
    "mississippi",
    "maroon-alert",
    "rapid-resolution",
    "hoax",
    "basketball-game-day",
    "electronic-access-logs"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-13",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-05-13",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}