{ "id": "2025-08-25-university-of-colorado-boulder-swatting", "slug": "university-of-colorado-boulder-swatting-2025-08-25", "institution": { "name": "University of Colorado Boulder", "shortName": "CU Boulder", "state": "CO", "type": "public-r1", "alertSystemName": "CU Boulder Alerts", "enrollment": 40000 }, "incident": { "date": "2025-08-25", "type": "swatting", "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification", "resolution": "confirmed-hoax", "headline": "False shots-fired reports prompted a shelter-in-place lasting more than three hours", "headlinePublic": "False shots-fired reports prompted a shelter-in-place lasting more than three hours", "summary": "On August 25, 2025, [false reports of shots fired near Norlin Library](https://www.colorado.edu/police/2025/08/25/cu-boulder-investigating-hoax-after-report-shots-fired) triggered a campus-wide shelter-in-place order at CU Boulder lasting over three hours. The online extremist group [Purgatory later claimed responsibility](https://www.axios.com/local/boulder/2025/09/02/group-takes-credit-for-cu-boulder-shooting-hoax-purgatory) for the hoax, which was part of a wave of university swatting incidents.", "outcome": "Police found no evidence of a shooting after sweeping Norlin Library. The incident was confirmed as a swatting hoax. CUPD is working with the FBI and state and federal partners to investigate." }, "alerts": [ { "sequence": 1, "type": "initial", "timestamp": "2025-08-25T16:54:00-06:00", "channel": "twitter-x", "verbatimText": "CU EMERGENCY ALERT: Police activity near Norlin Library. Campus-wide shelter in place issued. Emergency personnel responding. Avoid area.", "isVerbatimConfirmed": true, "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/CUBoulderPolice/status/1960119731244896437", "sourceDescription": "CU Boulder Police on X (verified via search snippet)", "annotations": [ "Sent at 4:54 PM MDT on August 25, 2025 by CU Boulder Police via X/Twitter and SMS", "Triggered by two calls to Boulder Police and Fire Communications Center reporting shots fired near Norlin Library and Sewall Hall" ], "characterCount": 137 }, { "sequence": 2, "type": "update", "timestampApprox": "Approximately 5:25 PM MDT on August 25, 2025", "channel": "twitter-x", "verbatimText": "CU EMERGENCY ALERT: Campus-wide shelter in place remains in effect. Avoid area around Norlin Library. http://alerts.colorado.edu", "isVerbatimConfirmed": true, "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/cuboulderalerts/status/1960119273847697814", "sourceDescription": "@cuboulderalerts on X (verbatim)", "annotations": [ "Reaffirmed the campus-wide shelter-in-place while officers continued to clear Norlin Library", "Norlin Library is a five-story building at the heart of campus that took over two hours to fully sweep", "Corrected to exact fxtwitter display text." ], "characterCount": 128 }, { "sequence": 3, "type": "update", "timestampApprox": "Approximately 6:17 PM MDT on August 25, 2025", "channel": "twitter-x", "verbatimText": "CU EMERGENCY ALERT 5: A shelter in place remains in Norlin Library while CUPD works to clear the building. The campus will send a final alert after Norlin Library has been cleared.. http://alerts.colorado.edu", "isVerbatimConfirmed": true, "sourceUrl": "https://x.com/cuboulderalerts/status/1960130786868249045", "sourceDescription": "@cuboulderalerts on X (verbatim)", "annotations": [ "Narrowed the shelter-in-place to Norlin Library only, lifting it for the rest of campus", "Students and staff on upper floors began being escorted out around this time", "Corrected to exact fxtwitter display text." ], "characterCount": 211 }, { "sequence": 4, "type": "update", "timestamp": "2025-08-25T19:03:00-06:00", "channel": "email", "verbatimText": "CUPD responded to reports of shots fired at Norlin Library on Monday, Aug. 25 just before 5 p.m. [7:03 p.m., Aug. 25, 2025] If you are still sheltering in place on Floors 1-3 in Norlin Library, please exit from where you are. There are officers in the hallway who will be directing you out of the building.", "isVerbatimConfirmed": true, "sourceUrl": "https://alerts.colorado.edu/2025/08/25/cu-emergency-alert-shelter-place-reported-shots-fired-norlin-library", "sourceDescription": "CU Boulder Alerts archive", "annotations": [ "Update sent at 7:03 PM MDT directing remaining occupants on Floors 1-3 to evacuate with officer assistance", "Officers were stationed in hallways to direct evacuees out of the building" ], "characterCount": 306 }, { "sequence": 5, "type": "all-clear", "timestamp": "2025-08-25T20:18:00-06:00", "channel": "email", "verbatimText": "The CU Boulder Police Department (CUPD) has determined there was and is no threat to campus. CUPD is investigating a potential swatting incident at Norlin Library.", "isVerbatimConfirmed": true, "sourceUrl": "https://alerts.colorado.edu/2025/08/25/cu-emergency-alert-shelter-place-reported-shots-fired-norlin-library", "sourceDescription": "CU Boulder Alerts archive", "annotations": [ "Final all-clear at 8:18 PM MDT, over three hours after the initial shelter-in-place", "A third caller had contacted CUPD dispatch to state the school had been swatted, indicating awareness of the hoax" ], "characterCount": 163 } ], "context": "On the evening of August 25, 2025, CU Boulder Police issued a [campus-wide shelter-in-place order at 4:54 PM MDT](https://alerts.colorado.edu/2025/08/25/cu-emergency-alert-shelter-place-reported-shots-fired-norlin-library) after the Boulder Police and Fire Communications Center received two calls reporting shots fired near Norlin Library and Sewall Hall. A third call was then received at CUPD dispatch in which the caller told a call-taker the school had been swatted. CUPD, Boulder Police, the Boulder County Sheriff's Office, and Boulder Fire responded in force. [Norlin Library, a five-story building at the heart of campus](https://boulderreportinglab.org/2025/08/25/cu-boulders-norlin-library-being-cleared-after-swatting-scare-as-police-investigate/), took more than two hours to fully sweep. Students on upper floors were escorted out beginning around 6:17 PM MDT, and the [all-clear was issued at 8:18 PM MDT](https://www.cpr.org/2025/08/25/cu-boulder-shelter-in-place/). The online extremist group [Purgatory later claimed credit](https://www.axios.com/local/boulder/2025/09/02/group-takes-credit-for-cu-boulder-shooting-hoax-purgatory) for the hoax, which also targeted Villanova University and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga around the same time. CUPD is working with the FBI and state and federal partners to investigate potential connections to other recent swatting incidents.", "keyFindings": [ "A third caller contacted CUPD to explicitly state the school had been swatted, indicating organized coordination", "The five-story Norlin Library took over two hours to fully sweep, causing a three-hour-plus campus disruption", "The online extremist group Purgatory claimed credit for the hoax along with swatting at Villanova and UT Chattanooga" ], "sources": [ { "title": "CU Boulder investigating hoax after report of shots fired (CU Boulder Police)", "url": "https://www.colorado.edu/police/2025/08/25/cu-boulder-investigating-hoax-after-report-shots-fired", "type": "official-archive" }, { "title": "CU Emergency Alert: Shelter in place (CU Boulder Alerts)", "url": "https://alerts.colorado.edu/2025/08/25/cu-emergency-alert-shelter-place-reported-shots-fired-norlin-library", "type": "official-archive" }, { "title": "Online group claims responsibility for false shooting report at CU Boulder (Axios)", "url": "https://www.axios.com/local/boulder/2025/09/02/group-takes-credit-for-cu-boulder-shooting-hoax-purgatory", "type": "local-media" }, { "title": "CU Boulder campus shelter-in-place order lifted (CPR News)", "url": "https://www.cpr.org/2025/08/25/cu-boulder-shelter-in-place/", "type": "local-media" }, { "title": "CU Boulder's Norlin Library cleared after swatting scare (Boulder Reporting Lab)", "url": "https://boulderreportinglab.org/2025/08/25/cu-boulders-norlin-library-being-cleared-after-swatting-scare-as-police-investigate/", "type": "local-media" }, { "url": "https://x.com/cuboulderalerts/status/1960119273847697814", "title": "@cuboulderalerts on X", "type": "official-archive", "dateAccessed": "2026-07-18" }, { "url": "https://x.com/cuboulderalerts/status/1960130786868249045", "title": "@cuboulderalerts on X", "type": "official-archive", "dateAccessed": "2026-07-18" }, { "title": "CU Boulder Police on X (verified via search snippet)", "url": "https://x.com/CUBoulderPolice/status/1960119731244896437", "type": "official-archive" } ], "confidence": "high", "tags": [ "swatting", "active-shooter-hoax", "purgatory", "norlin-library", "colorado", "shelter-in-place", "fbi-investigation", "public-university" ], "dateAdded": "2026-05-03", "lastUpdated": "2026-07-18", "addedBy": "ingestion" }