{
  "id": "2026-02-20-new-river-community-college-lockdown",
  "slug": "new-river-community-college-lockdown-2026-02-20",
  "institution": {
    "name": "New River Community College",
    "shortName": "NRCC",
    "state": "VA",
    "type": "community-college",
    "alertSystemName": "NRCC Alert",
    "enrollment": 4000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2026-02-20",
    "type": "lockdown",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "unfounded",
    "headline": "An 8:30 AM Out-of-State Call Names Godbey Hall: New River CC and Every Pulaski County School Lock Down",
    "summary": "On February 20, 2026, at approximately 8:30 AM EST, [New River Community College in Dublin, Virginia received a phone call reporting a possible shooter on campus in Godbey Hall](https://www.wfxrtv.com/news/lockdown-at-nrcc-and-pulaski-county-schools-due-to-weapon-report/), triggering a campus lockdown and closure that also placed all Pulaski County Schools on precautionary lockdown. Law enforcement swept the campus, found no weapon or threat, and [lifted the lockdown at 10:14 AM EST](https://www.wdbj7.com/2026/02/20/new-river-community-college-lockdown-classes-canceled/); Virginia State Police later determined the call had been placed from out of state by a female caller who said she was going to shoot.",
    "outcome": "No weapon, shooter, or person of interest was found on campus. The lockdown was lifted at 10:14 AM EST and the college remained closed for the rest of Friday, February 20, 2026. Virginia State Police determined the 8:30 AM call originated from out of state and continued investigating. No shots were fired and no one was injured."
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Shortly after 8:30 AM EST on February 20, 2026",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "NRCC is on lockdown. A possible threat has been reported on campus. Stay where you are, lock doors, and remain out of sight until you receive an all-clear.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.wfxrtv.com/news/lockdown-at-nrcc-and-pulaski-county-schools-due-to-weapon-report/",
      "sourceDescription": "WFXR News (reconstructed from coverage of the NRCC Alert lockdown message)",
      "annotations": [
        "Reconstructed from coverage — WFXR and WDBJ7 reported that NRCC placed itself on lockdown after a phone call reported a possible shooter in Godbey Hall, but no outlet published the exact verbatim wording of the initial NRCC Alert push/SMS message",
        "The reported triggering call came in at approximately 8:30 AM EST on February 20, 2026; Virginia State Police said the caller was a female who said she was going to shoot and that the call was placed from out of state",
        "Pulaski County Schools were placed on precautionary lockdown at the same time because of the proximity to the NRCC Dublin campus"
      ],
      "characterCount": 155
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 10:14 AM EST on February 20, 2026",
      "channel": "website",
      "verbatimText": "NRCC is on lockdown and closed Friday February 20th, 2026.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.nr.edu/alert/",
      "sourceDescription": "New River Community College official NRCC Alert page (nr.edu/alert) — reconstructed status wording",
      "annotations": [
        "Reconstructed status wording — NRCC's own /alert/ status page carried a lockdown/closure banner the morning of February 20, 2026, but the page returns HTTP 403 to direct fetch in this environment and the exact banner text could not be independently confirmed, so this is marked reconstructed",
        "This is a status/closure update, not a true all-clear: even after the lockdown was lifted at 10:14 AM EST, the college remained closed for the remainder of Friday, February 20, 2026 (per WDBJ7 and WSLS)",
        "WDBJ7 and WSLS reported the lockdown was lifted at 10:14 AM EST with no weapon, shooter, or threat found"
      ],
      "characterCount": 58
    }
  ],
  "context": "[New River Community College](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_River_Community_College) is a public two-year community college in Dublin, Virginia, in Pulaski County, serving roughly 4,000 students across the New River Valley. On the morning of Friday, February 20, 2026, the college [received a phone call at approximately 8:30 AM EST reporting a possible shooter on campus in Godbey Hall](https://www.wfxrtv.com/news/lockdown-at-nrcc-and-pulaski-county-schools-due-to-weapon-report/) and immediately went on lockdown, contacting local law enforcement, who arrived within minutes. As a precaution, [all Pulaski County Schools were also placed on lockdown](https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2026/02/20/new-river-community-college-pulaski-county-schools-on-lockdown/). After a sweep of the campus turned up no weapon or threat, the [lockdown was lifted at 10:14 AM EST](https://www.wdbj7.com/2026/02/20/new-river-community-college-lockdown-classes-canceled/) and the college remained closed for the rest of the day. [Virginia State Police determined the 8:30 AM call was placed from out of state](https://roanoke.com/news/local/crime-courts/article_a475fd9c-042f-4c00-949b-ae3da8495ae4.html) by a female caller who said she was going to shoot, fitting the pattern of remote false-threat calls that disrupted campuses nationwide in 2025-2026. This 2026 lockdown is a separate incident from the [April 12, 2013 NRCC shooting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_River_Community_College), an actual armed attack in the college's Christiansburg mall satellite location that injured two people.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The triggering 8:30 AM EST call naming Godbey Hall was determined by Virginia State Police to have been placed from out of state, consistent with the wave of remote false-threat and swatting calls targeting U.S. campuses in 2025-2026",
    "The threat cascaded beyond the college: every Pulaski County School was placed on precautionary lockdown because of proximity to the NRCC Dublin campus",
    "NRCC's own /alert/ status page carried the closure message, but the lockdown-lifted notice still kept the campus closed for the day rather than resuming normal operations"
  ],
  "responseTimeMinutes": 5,
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Update: NRCC lockdown lifted, police find no threat on campus (WFXR News)",
      "url": "https://www.wfxrtv.com/news/lockdown-at-nrcc-and-pulaski-county-schools-due-to-weapon-report/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Lockdown lifted at New River Community College after no threat found (WDBJ7)",
      "url": "https://www.wdbj7.com/2026/02/20/new-river-community-college-lockdown-classes-canceled/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Lockdown lifted at New River Community College (WSLS 10)",
      "url": "https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2026/02/20/new-river-community-college-pulaski-county-schools-on-lockdown/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Lockdown lifted at New River Community College after search (Roanoke Times)",
      "url": "https://roanoke.com/news/local/crime-courts/article_a475fd9c-042f-4c00-949b-ae3da8495ae4.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "New River Community College and Pulaski Co. Schools lockdown has been lifted (WSET ABC 13)",
      "url": "https://wset.com/news/local/new-river-community-college-and-pulaski-county-schools-are-on-lockdown-officials-virginia-february-2026",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "NRCC Alert (New River Community College official alert page)",
      "url": "https://www.nr.edu/alert/",
      "type": "official-archive"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "lockdown",
    "swatting",
    "false-threat",
    "community-college",
    "virginia",
    "pulaski-county",
    "godbey-hall",
    "out-of-state-call",
    "school-cascade",
    "no-threat-found"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-06-21",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-06-21",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}