{
  "id": "2023-03-30-saint-josephs-university-false-shooter",
  "slug": "saint-josephs-university-false-shooter-2023-03-30",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Saint Joseph's University",
    "shortName": "SJU",
    "state": "PA",
    "type": "private-masters",
    "alertSystemName": "SJUSafe",
    "alertPlatform": "Omnilert",
    "enrollment": 7800
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2023-03-30",
    "type": "swatting",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-hoax",
    "headline": "Phoned active-shooter report at the library determined to be false; no injuries",
    "headlinePublic": "Phoned active-shooter report at the library determined to be false; no injuries",
    "summary": "On March 30, 2023, [Saint Joseph's University's Office of Public Safety received a false active-shooter report](https://www.inquirer.com/education/st-josephs-university-active-shooter-prank-20230331.html) at the Francis A. Drexel Library at 2:42 PM EDT; the [first SJUSafe alert was sent at 3:09 PM EDT](https://sjuhawknews.com/28855/news/hawk-hill-reels-from-false-active-shooter-report/), 27 minutes later, after officers had cleared the library. During that period, students barricaded themselves in study rooms and hid in bathroom stalls based on rumors spreading through group chats. The university subsequently announced it would change its protocol to send an immediate shelter-in-place alert for any future active-shooter report.",
    "outcome": "Officers cleared the Francis A. Drexel Library and confirmed no shooter was present. Philadelphia Police characterized the call as 'probably a prank,' part of a wave of swatting calls targeting U.S. universities in spring 2023. The university announced it would change its protocol to send an immediate shelter-in-place alert for any future active-shooter report, regardless of preliminary findings.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2023-03-30T15:09:00-04:00",
      "timestampApprox": "3:09 PM EDT on March 30, 2023",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "No emergency on Hawk Hill. The report of an active shooter in Drexel Library has been investigated and was inaccurate. There is no emergency situation on Hawk Hill.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://sjuhawknews.com/28855/news/hawk-hill-reels-from-false-active-shooter-report/",
      "sourceDescription": "The Hawk News (SJU student newspaper) quoting the verbatim 3:09 PM SJU Safe alert",
      "annotations": [
        "Verbatim SJUSafe text quoted by The Hawk News, note the repetition of 'No emergency on Hawk Hill' that bookends the alert, an unusual rhetorical structure for a campus notification",
        "Sent 27 minutes after the 2:42 PM EDT off-campus 911 call reporting the false shooter, during which students hid in bathroom stalls and barricaded themselves in study rooms based on unofficial rumors",
        "No shelter-in-place alert preceded this 'no emergency' message; the Student Senate publicly called the lack of communication during the incident 'unacceptable'",
        "The alert describes the report as 'inaccurate'; Philadelphia Police later characterized the call as 'probably a prank' amid the spring 2023 swatting wave"
      ],
      "characterCount": 164
    }
  ],
  "context": "On the afternoon of March 30, 2023, [the Office of Public Safety & Security at Saint Joseph's University](https://www.sju.edu/offices/student-life/public-safety) (the Jesuit Catholic university on City Avenue in Philadelphia) received a phoned-in report of an active shooter inside the [Francis A. Drexel Library](https://library.sju.edu/) at 2:42 PM EDT. Officers responded immediately and cleared the library, finding no threat. But the first community-wide SJUSafe alert did not go out until 3:09 PM EDT (27 minutes later) and when it did, it simply read 'No emergency on Hawk Hill,' with no prior shelter-in-place message. [Students in the library had spent those 27 minutes barricaded in study rooms and bathroom stalls](https://www.inquirer.com/education/st-josephs-university-active-shooter-prank-20230331.html), reacting only to text messages from friends. The Student Senate issued a public statement calling 'the lack of communication with the student body regarding the nature of this incident as it happened was unacceptable.' In response, the university announced it would [change its protocol to send an immediate shelter-in-place alert](https://sjuhawknews.com/28855/news/hawk-hill-reels-from-false-active-shooter-report/) with any future active-shooter report, regardless of preliminary findings. The incident was part of a [wave of swatting calls targeting U.S. universities](https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-warns-of-recent-wave-of-swatting-incidents-targeting-school-campuses) in spring 2023.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The 27-minute gap between the 2:42 PM EDT 911 call and the 3:09 PM EDT SJUSafe alert drew a public Student Senate statement and Philadelphia Inquirer coverage",
    "By the time SJU sent its first alert, officers had already cleared the library, meaning students received an 'all-clear' as their first notification, an inversion of the standard alert sequence",
    "Following the Student Senate's public statement, SJU announced it would send an immediate shelter-in-place alert for any future active-shooter report, regardless of preliminary findings"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "St. Joe's University vows improvements after confusion over active shooter report (Philadelphia Inquirer)",
      "url": "https://www.inquirer.com/education/st-josephs-university-active-shooter-prank-20230331.html",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Hawk Hill reels from false active shooter report (The Hawk News)",
      "url": "https://sjuhawknews.com/28855/news/hawk-hill-reels-from-false-active-shooter-report/",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "University begins to address gaps in communication since false shooter incident (The Hawk News)",
      "url": "https://sjuhawknews.com/31698/news/sju-false-shooter-one-year-response/",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "Public Safety & Security | Saint Joseph's University",
      "url": "https://www.sju.edu/offices/student-life/public-safety",
      "type": "official-archive"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "swatting",
    "false-shooter",
    "hoax",
    "library",
    "jesuit",
    "catholic",
    "philadelphia",
    "communication-failure",
    "delayed-alert",
    "protocol-overhaul",
    "private-masters",
    "verbatim-confirmed"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-13",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-16",
  "addedBy": "ingestion",
  "responseTimeMinutes": 27
}