{
  "id": "2022-01-28-smith-college-bomb-threat",
  "slug": "smith-college-bomb-threat-2022-01-28",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Smith College",
    "shortName": "Smith",
    "state": "MA",
    "type": "private-liberal-arts",
    "alertSystemName": "Smith Alert",
    "enrollment": 2500
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2022-01-28",
    "type": "bomb-threat",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "Bomb threat, January 28, 2022",
    "summary": "At approximately 5:02 a.m. EST on January 28, 2022, the Northampton Police Department received an anonymous threat reporting [multiple explosive devices in Burton Hall](https://www.wwlp.com/news/crime/bomb-threat-at-smith-college-people-told-to-avoid-two-campus-buildings/) at Smith College. Smith issued an avoidance advisory just after 6:00 a.m. urging the community to stay away from Burton Hall and adjacent Sabin-Reed Hall, followed by a [campuswide shelter-in-place order at approximately 6:30 a.m.](https://dailyvoice.com/massachusetts/hampshire-franklin/schools/bomb-threat-leads-to-shelter-in-place-order-at-smith-college/824913/). The Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad searched the building and found nothing; the shelter-in-place was lifted at approximately 7:00 a.m. EST.",
    "outcome": "No explosive devices were found. The Northampton Police Department, Massachusetts State Police Fire Marshall, and State Police Bomb Squad searched the campus. The shelter-in-place was lifted at approximately 7:00 a.m. EST and the threat was deemed not credible. The incident occurred during a wave of bomb threats targeting US colleges in early 2022, including the wave against HBCUs that had begun earlier in January.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-hoax",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Just after 6:00 a.m. EST on January 28, 2022, roughly an hour after the threat was received by Northampton Police",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "SAFETY ALERT: Campus Safety has received a bomb threat to Burton Hall. Police are on scene. Please avoid Burton Hall and Sabin-Reed Hall until further notice.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceDescription": "@smithcollege on X (verbatim); official safety-alert account; WWLP cites the head post",
      "annotations": [
        "Lane B PRE-2024 flip 2026-10-14: the cited WWLP article (Wayback 20220128131448 id_ capture; live 403) links the official @smithcollege status 1487020746786451461. Two independent X API reads and CDN syndication agree on the 158-char text. Post time 2022-01-28T11:12:28Z (6:12 a.m. EST). Replaced the SMS reconstruction with the official product; channel sms → twitter-x. Thread checked 2026-10-14: @smithcollege also posted shelter-in-place (1487026347251744770) and all-clear (1487033458329325577) the same morning; those are seqs 2–3. SPN not attempted (Lane A CLOSED); archiveUrl null.",
        "The threat was received by Northampton police at 5:02 a.m. EST on January 28, 2022, and Smith College's avoidance alert went out just after 6:00 a.m. EST",
        "The avoidance advisory specifically named Burton Hall AND Sabin-Reed Hall (the two adjoining science-cluster buildings) not Burton alone",
        "Burton Hall houses Smith's geology and mathematics departments, making it a major academic building rather than a residence hall; Sabin-Reed Hall houses biological sciences",
        "The early-morning timing meant most students were asleep when the alert went out, a constraint Smith's text-and-email system was designed to overcome"
      ],
      "characterCount": 158,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/smithcollege/status/1487020746786451461",
      "timestamp": "2022-01-28T06:12:28-05:00"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 6:30 a.m. EST on January 28, 2022, roughly 30 minutes after the initial avoidance advisory",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "SAFETY ALERT: A shelter in place order is in effect for the Smith College campus.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceDescription": "@smithcollege on X (verbatim); official safety-alert account; WWLP cites the head post",
      "annotations": [
        "Lane B PRE-2024 flip 2026-10-14: official @smithcollege status 1487026347251744770, found by walking the self-reply thread from the WWLP-linked head post. Two independent X API reads and CDN syndication agree on the 81-char text. Post time 2022-01-28T11:34:43Z (6:34 a.m. EST). Replaced the SMS reconstruction; channel sms → twitter-x. SPN not attempted (Lane A CLOSED); archiveUrl null.",
        "The shelter-in-place was issued at approximately 6:30 a.m. EST, the escalation reflected Smith's classification of the threat from 'avoid the area' to 'continuing threat to all of campus'",
        "Daily Hampshire Gazette and Daily Voice reported the shelter-in-place was campuswide, not limited to Burton Hall and adjacent buildings"
      ],
      "characterCount": 81,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/smithcollege/status/1487026347251744770",
      "timestamp": "2022-01-28T06:34:43-05:00"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 7:00 a.m. EST on January 28, 2022",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "The shelter in place order for the Smith College campus has been lifted. All normal campus activities may resume.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/smithcollege/status/1487033458329325577",
      "sourceDescription": "@smithcollege on X (verbatim); official safety-alert account; WWLP cites the head post",
      "annotations": [
        "Lane B PRE-2024 flip 2026-10-14: official @smithcollege status 1487033458329325577 (a later self-reply 1487046530066440195 repeats the same text). Two independent X API reads and CDN syndication agree on the 113-char text. Post time 2022-01-28T12:02:58Z (7:02 a.m. EST). Replaced the SMS reconstruction; channel sms → twitter-x. SPN not attempted (Lane A CLOSED); archiveUrl null.",
        "The shelter-in-place was active for roughly 80 minutes, short by Clery emergency standards but disruptive on a women's college campus where most residence halls are dorms with shared bathrooms and kitchens",
        "Northampton Police, Massachusetts State Police Fire Marshall, and the State Police Bomb Squad participated in the search before the all-clear",
        "The incident was reported to the DHS Tripwire database, indicating it was officially logged as a federal-level threat report"
      ],
      "characterCount": 113,
      "timestamp": "2022-01-28T07:02:58-05:00"
    }
  ],
  "context": "[Smith College](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_College) is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, founded in 1871, and one of the [Seven Sisters colleges](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Sisters_(colleges)). On January 28, 2022, the Northampton Police Department received an [anonymous bomb threat at 5:02 a.m. EST](https://www.wwlp.com/news/crime/bomb-threat-at-smith-college-people-told-to-avoid-two-campus-buildings/) reporting multiple explosive devices in [Burton Hall](https://dailyvoice.com/massachusetts/hampshire-franklin/schools/bomb-threat-leads-to-shelter-in-place-order-at-smith-college/824913/), which houses the geology and mathematics departments. Smith [posted an alert just after 6:00 a.m.](https://www.the-sun.com/news/4560072/smith-college-bomb-threat-massachusetts-campus/) urging people to avoid both Burton Hall and the adjoining Sabin-Reed Hall, and approximately 30 minutes later [escalated to a campuswide shelter-in-place](https://www.nepm.org/regional-news/2022-01-28/smith-college-lifts-lockdown-after-bomb-threat). The Northampton Police, Massachusetts State Police Fire Marshall, and the State Police Bomb Squad searched the campus and found nothing. The threat was [logged in the DHS Tripwire database](https://tripwire.dhs.gov/node/274094) and the shelter-in-place was lifted at approximately 7:00 a.m. EST. Police said there was no ongoing threat. The case is significant for the campus alert archive because it documents the response of a small women's liberal arts college to an anonymous bomb threat during the same general period as the [HBCU bomb threat wave of early 2022](https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-statement-on-hbcu-threats), even though Smith was not a direct target of that wave. It also illustrates how a 5:02 a.m. threat (when most residence-hall students are asleep) stresses the SMS-and-email model that small colleges use for emergency notification.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The threat came in at 5:02 a.m. EST; Smith posted its initial avoidance alert just after 6:00 a.m. and escalated to a campuswide shelter-in-place at approximately 6:30 a.m.",
    "The avoidance alert named both Burton Hall (geology and mathematics) and the adjoining Sabin-Reed Hall (biology), a two-building advisory before the campuswide escalation",
    "The shelter-in-place was active for approximately 80 minutes before being lifted at 7:00 a.m. EST",
    "The Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad's involvement and the DHS Tripwire log indicate the threat was treated as a federal-level investigation, even though it was ultimately deemed not credible",
    "The case documents Clery emergency-notification practice at a small women's liberal arts college during a period of heightened anonymous threat activity against US campuses"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Bomb threat at Smith College after report of suspicious object - WWLP",
      "url": "https://www.wwlp.com/news/crime/bomb-threat-at-smith-college-people-told-to-avoid-two-campus-buildings/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Bomb Threat Leads To Shelter-In-Place Order At Smith College - Daily Voice",
      "url": "https://dailyvoice.com/massachusetts/hampshire-franklin/schools/bomb-threat-leads-to-shelter-in-place-order-at-smith-college/824913/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Smith College lifts lockdown after bomb threat - New England Public Media",
      "url": "https://www.nepm.org/regional-news/2022-01-28/smith-college-lifts-lockdown-after-bomb-threat",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Police: Bomb threat a hoax at Smith College - Daily Hampshire Gazette",
      "url": "https://www.gazettenet.com/Smith-College-shelter-in-place-44805379",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "January 28, 2022 - Northampton, Massachusetts - Bomb Threat - DHS Tripwire",
      "url": "https://tripwire.dhs.gov/node/274094",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "\"Multiple Explosive Devices\" Threat At Smith College In Northampton - Live 95.9",
      "url": "https://live959.com/multiple-explosive-devices-threat-at-smith-college-in-northampton/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "@smithcollege on X — Smith College safety alerts (bomb threat / shelter-in-place / all-clear, 2022-01-28)",
      "url": "https://x.com/smithcollege/status/1487020746786451461",
      "type": "official-social"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "bomb-threat",
    "womens-college",
    "seven-sisters",
    "shelter-in-place",
    "hoax",
    "massachusetts",
    "early-morning-alert",
    "burton-hall",
    "northampton",
    "private-liberal-arts"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-03",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-10-14",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}