{
  "id": "2025-03-09-uconn-rec-center-bomb-threat",
  "slug": "uconn-rec-center-bomb-threat-2025-03-09",
  "institution": {
    "name": "University of Connecticut",
    "shortName": "UConn",
    "state": "CT",
    "type": "public-r1",
    "alertSystemName": "UConnALERT",
    "enrollment": 32000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2025-03-09",
    "type": "bomb-threat",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "unfounded",
    "headline": "Sticky-note bomb threat evacuated the recreation center during a climbing competition",
    "headlinePublic": "Sticky-note bomb threat evacuated the recreation center during a climbing competition",
    "summary": "On Sunday, March 9, 2025, the [UConn Student Recreation Center on the Storrs campus was evacuated](https://www.wfsb.com/2025/03/09/authorities-investigate-threat-uconn-storrs-campus/) after a [neon-green sticky note reading \"A bomb is going to go off in the Climbing Center\"](https://dailycampus.com/2025/03/12/surf-send-and-evacuate-the-bizarre-bomb-scare-at-uconns-climbing-competition/) was discovered during a collegiate climbing competition. UConn Police and Connecticut State Police evacuated and swept the building; [no device was found](https://dailycampus.com/2025/03/11/uconn-rec-center-evacuated-due-to-bomb-threat-on-sunday/). The Rec Center reopened the following morning at 6 AM EDT.",
    "outcome": "Police searched the building and found no explosive device. The Rec Center was closed for the remainder of Sunday and reopened Monday at 6 AM EDT. The investigation into the note's origin continued. UConn Police characterized the note as having most likely originated as a prank within a friend group, but treated it as a bomb threat per protocol.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Sunday afternoon, March 9, 2025",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "UCONN ALERT- Hazardous Condition\n\nSTORRS- Police are investigating a potentially hazardous condition at the Student Recreation Center on the Storrs campus. Please avoid the area. For more, visit: http://alert.uconn.edu",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/UConn/status/1898818495053197747",
      "sourceDescription": "@UConn on X (verbatim)",
      "annotations": [
        "Verbatim text is the official @UConn X post; The Daily Campus reported students received the parallel alert at approximately 3:28 PM EDT on March 9, 2025",
        "UConn's 'potentially hazardous condition' language for unverified threats avoids naming a bomb explicitly during initial dispatch",
        "The post instructs only 'Please avoid the area' rather than ordering evacuation, even though the building was being emptied at the time",
        "Corrected to exact fxtwitter display text."
      ],
      "characterCount": 218
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Sunday evening, March 9, 2025",
      "channel": "twitter-x",
      "verbatimText": "STORRS- The danger/difficulty is over. Visit http://alert.uconn.edu for more.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/UConn/status/1898855367137702309",
      "sourceDescription": "@UConn on X (verbatim)",
      "annotations": [
        "Verbatim full text from official @UConn X status 1898855367137702309 (reply in conversation of initial hazardous-condition alert).",
        "Preserves UConn \"danger/difficulty is over\" all-clear phrasing exactly as transmitted.",
        "Corrected to exact fxtwitter display text."
      ],
      "characterCount": 77,
      "timestamp": "2025-03-09T17:56:13-04:00"
    }
  ],
  "context": "On Sunday, March 9, 2025, during a collegiate climbing competition at the UConn Student Recreation Center, [a neon-green sticky note bearing the words \"A bomb is going to go off in the Climbing Center\" was discovered](https://dailycampus.com/2025/03/12/surf-send-and-evacuate-the-bizarre-bomb-scare-at-uconns-climbing-competition/). According to The Daily Campus, the note was originally placed on a climber's backpack, a friend had peeled it off and stuck it onto the climber's T-shirt, where it fell off and was reported. UConn Police and Connecticut State Police [evacuated the building](https://www.wfsb.com/2025/03/09/authorities-investigate-threat-uconn-storrs-campus/) and conducted a full bomb-squad search. [No device was found](https://www.fox61.com/article/news/local/tolland-county/uconn-student-rec-center-evacuated/520-a5f7886f-96bc-4f54-868d-1a31d0837a48), and the Rec Center reopened at 6 AM Monday. The incident is unusual for two reasons: the medium of the threat (a handwritten sticky note rather than a phoned or emailed message), and that the threat occurred during a live multi-school athletic event, with [climbers, judges, and spectators all evacuated mid-competition](https://connecticut.news12.com/uconn-no-indications-of-danger-after-threat-prompts-student-recreation-center-evacuation). UConn's response followed its longstanding bomb-threat protocols, in place since the 2014 incident in which student Matthew Tollis was charged in a [coordinated multi-school bomb-threat ring](https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/newhaven/news/press-releases/wethersfield-man-charged-federally-for-role-in-swatting-incidents-at-uconn-elsewhere).",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The handwritten sticky-note medium is rare in modern campus bomb threats; most recent threats arrive by email, phone, or social media",
    "UConn's 'potentially hazardous condition' alert language avoids naming the threat type before it is confirmed",
    "The incident illustrates how a single piece of paper can shut down a major recreation facility serving a 32,000-student R1 campus for an entire day, demonstrating the asymmetric cost of bomb-threat hoaxes"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "UCONN ALERT- Hazardous Condition STORRS (official @UConn X post, March 9, 2025)",
      "url": "https://x.com/UConn/status/1898818495053197747",
      "type": "official-social"
    },
    {
      "title": "UConn Rec Center evacuated due to bomb threat on Sunday (The Daily Campus)",
      "url": "https://dailycampus.com/2025/03/11/uconn-rec-center-evacuated-due-to-bomb-threat-on-sunday/",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "Surf, Send and Evacuate? The bizarre bomb scare at UConn's climbing competition (The Daily Campus)",
      "url": "https://dailycampus.com/2025/03/12/surf-send-and-evacuate-the-bizarre-bomb-scare-at-uconns-climbing-competition/",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "UConn building evacuated after authorities found threatening note (WFSB)",
      "url": "https://www.wfsb.com/2025/03/09/authorities-investigate-threat-uconn-storrs-campus/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "UConn Student Rec Center cleared to resume normal operations after threat (Fox 61)",
      "url": "https://www.fox61.com/article/news/local/tolland-county/uconn-student-rec-center-evacuated/520-a5f7886f-96bc-4f54-868d-1a31d0837a48",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Potentially hazardous condition under investigation at UConn in Storrs (NBC Connecticut)",
      "url": "https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/potentially-hazardous-condition-under-investigation-at-uconn-in-storrs/3515693/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "UConn: No indications of danger after threat prompts Student Recreation Center evacuation (News 12 Connecticut)",
      "url": "https://connecticut.news12.com/uconn-no-indications-of-danger-after-threat-prompts-student-recreation-center-evacuation",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "@UConn on X (UConnALERT all-clear, verbatim)",
      "url": "https://x.com/UConn/status/1898855367137702309",
      "type": "official-social"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "bomb-threat",
    "connecticut",
    "rec-center",
    "climbing",
    "sticky-note",
    "evacuation",
    "athletic-event",
    "uconn"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-13",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-18",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}