{
  "id": "2025-04-27-uncw-loggerhead-hall-arson",
  "slug": "uncw-loggerhead-hall-arson-2025-04-27",
  "institution": {
    "name": "University of North Carolina Wilmington",
    "shortName": "UNCW",
    "state": "NC",
    "type": "public-masters",
    "alertSystemName": "UNCW Alert",
    "enrollment": 18000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2025-04-27",
    "type": "arson",
    "cleryCategory": "timely-warning",
    "headline": "A Burned Elevator Flier and a Pulled Fire Alarm Led Police to a UNCW Student at Loggerhead Hall",
    "summary": "In the early hours of April 27, 2025, a Loggerhead Hall resident pulled the fire alarm after noticing smoke coming from the elevator, and [UNCW Police found ash, heavy smoke, and a burned flier that had been taped inside the elevator](https://www.wect.com/2025/05/01/19-year-old-uncw-student-charged-with-arson-after-allegedly-setting-fire-campus/). No major damage was reported. [Nicholas Morganelli, 19, was charged with a felony arson count and several misdemeanor offenses](https://www.wwaytv3.com/uncw-student-charged-with-arson-for-incident-on-campus/) after an investigation identified him as the person responsible.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-threat",
    "outcome": "Nicholas Morganelli, 19, of Raleigh, a UNCW student enrolled since fall 2024, was charged with a felony count of burning of a schoolhouse (arson), along with misdemeanor possession of marijuana paraphernalia, misdemeanor possession or display of a fictitious or revoked driver's license, and misdemeanor possession of marijuana. No injuries were reported, and damage was limited to a burned flier and smoke residue near the elevator.",
    "casualties": {
      "killed": 0,
      "injured": 0
    }
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Early morning hours of April 27, 2025, after a Loggerhead Hall resident pulled the fire alarm upon noticing smoke from the elevator",
      "channel": "push-notification",
      "verbatimText": "UNCW ALERT: University Police and Wilmington Fire are responding to Loggerhead Hall after a fire alarm was activated. Smoke was reported near the elevators. There is no immediate danger to the building. Please follow instructions from Housing and Residence Life staff. This is an active investigation.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from WECT's and WWAYTV3's reporting on the early-morning response at Loggerhead Hall",
      "annotations": [
        "WECT reported a student pulled the fire alarm after noticing smoke coming from the elevator, and that police arriving on scene found ash, heavy smoke, and a burned flier taped inside the elevator",
        "Loggerhead Hall is a UNCW residence hall named for the university's Seahawk-and-coastal branding; no major structural damage was reported",
        "The building was not described as evacuated for an extended period in available reporting, consistent with a contained, elevator-area fire rather than a building-wide hazard"
      ],
      "characterCount": 301
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "follow-up",
      "timestampApprox": "On or shortly before May 1, 2025, after UNCW Police identified a suspect in the April 27 elevator fire",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "UNCW ALERT UPDATE: University Police have identified a suspect in the April 27 fire at Loggerhead Hall. A 19-year-old student faces a felony arson charge in connection with a burned flier discovered inside the building's elevator. No injuries were reported. This case remains under investigation by University Police and the New Hanover County District Attorney's office.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.wect.com/2025/05/01/19-year-old-uncw-student-charged-with-arson-after-allegedly-setting-fire-campus/",
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from WECT's May 1, 2025 report on the arrest of Nicholas Morganelli",
      "annotations": [
        "WWAYTV3 reported the felony charge as 'burning of a school house,' the North Carolina statutory arson charge that applies to educational buildings, alongside several misdemeanor drug and fictitious-ID charges unrelated to the fire itself",
        "Morganelli had been enrolled at UNCW only since fall 2024, meaning the incident occurred during his second semester",
        "No major building damage was reported, distinguishing this from more destructive campus arson cases but still meeting the Clery Act's timely-warning threshold for arson as a continuing-threat crime"
      ],
      "characterCount": 371
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "19-year-old UNCW student charged with arson after allegedly setting fire on campus",
      "url": "https://www.wect.com/2025/05/01/19-year-old-uncw-student-charged-with-arson-after-allegedly-setting-fire-campus/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "UNCW student charged with arson for incident on campus",
      "url": "https://www.wwaytv3.com/uncw-student-charged-with-arson-for-incident-on-campus/",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "context": "The [University of North Carolina Wilmington](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_North_Carolina_Wilmington) is a public university on the state's southeastern coast. In the early hours of April 27, 2025, a resident of [Loggerhead Hall](https://www.wect.com/2025/05/01/19-year-old-uncw-student-charged-with-arson-after-allegedly-setting-fire-campus/) pulled the building's fire alarm after noticing smoke coming from the elevator. Responding UNCW Police officers found ash, heavy smoke, and a burned flier that had been taped inside the elevator. No injuries were reported and damage was limited. [WWAYTV3 reported](https://www.wwaytv3.com/uncw-student-charged-with-arson-for-incident-on-campus/) that the ensuing investigation identified Nicholas Morganelli, 19, a UNCW student from Raleigh enrolled since fall 2024, as a suspect. He was charged with felony burning of a school house, North Carolina's statutory arson offense covering educational buildings, along with unrelated misdemeanor charges for marijuana possession and possession of a fictitious driver's license discovered during the investigation. The case reflects a common campus-arson pattern: a small, contained fire in a shared space, discovered because a resident activated the fire alarm rather than because of visible flame, that nonetheless carries felony exposure under state arson statutes designed to protect occupied buildings.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "A UNCW student pulled the Loggerhead Hall fire alarm after noticing smoke from the elevator in the early hours of April 27, 2025",
    "Responding police found a burned flier that had been taped inside the elevator, along with ash and heavy smoke, but no major structural damage",
    "A 19-year-old student, enrolled at UNCW since only fall 2024, was identified and charged with felony burning of a school house",
    "The suspect also faced unrelated misdemeanor drug and false-ID charges discovered during the same investigation",
    "No injuries were reported despite the felony-level arson charge, illustrating how North Carolina's schoolhouse-arson statute applies regardless of the fire's ultimate severity"
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "arson",
    "residence-hall",
    "elevator",
    "fire-alarm",
    "student-perpetrator",
    "north-carolina",
    "public-masters",
    "2020s",
    "no-injuries"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-07-03",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-07-03",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}