Campus Alert Archive
Cal State LA

A Phoned-In 'Evacuate or I Shoot' Threat Hit a Hispanic-Serving CSU's Computer Lab — Then a Library Threat Followed Six Days Later

CAthreat of violenceemergency notificationmedium confidence
UnfoundedNo evidence of an actual threat was found. The institutional response is documented because the alert communication is identical to what would occur during a real incident.

Around 5:00 p.m. PDT on October 29, 2019, a caller threatened to shoot up the Annex Lab computer center at Salazar Hall at California State University, Los Angeles unless it was immediately evacuated. Cal State LA's Department of Public Safety evacuated the Annex Lab and emailed the campus community, characterizing the threat as non-credible. Six days later, a separate mass-shooter rumor targeted the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library, prompting a security increase but no formal evacuation.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
California State University, Los Angeles
Public R2 · CA
~26,000 studentsPublic Safety Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Verified verbatimCal State LA University Times quoting the verbatim Public Safety Alert email text issued after the Annex Lab phoned threat185 chars
Out of an abundance of caution, the building was cleared. The Department of Public Safety is investigating the incident and has determined that there is no credible threat at this time.
Verbatim alert text quoted by the CSULA University Times student newspaper from the Public Safety Alert email
The email went out shortly after the 5:00 p.m. PDT phoned-in threat — University Times reported the message went to the entire university community via mass email
The phrase 'abundance of caution' became a recurring framing device in CSU-system alerts in the late 2010s — used here despite Public Safety having already deemed the threat non-credible in the same message
Notable that the alert was email-only, not SMS — Cal State LA's then-current Public Safety Alert system relied heavily on email broadcast
ALL CLEAREmail
Approximate reconstruction288 chars
PUBLIC SAFETY UPDATE: The Annex Lab in Salazar Hall has been cleared by the Department of Public Safety. No suspicious item or individual was found. The phoned threat has been determined to be non-credible. The lab will reopen tomorrow during normal hours. Thank you for your cooperation.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The all-clear came that same evening, after Public Safety officers patrolled the lab and surrounding locations and found nothing
The lab reopened the next morning — a relatively fast restoration given the typical multi-day disruption from bomb-threat-style evacuations
Notably, no public statement identified a suspect or arrest — the case remained classified as 'non-credible' rather than 'hoax' (the latter usually implies a known caller)
Context

Background

California State University, Los Angeles is a Hispanic-Serving Institution serving roughly 26,000 students in East Los Angeles, with one of the highest percentages of Latino enrollment among the 23 California State University campuses. On the afternoon of October 29, 2019, a caller phoned the Annex Lab computer center at Salazar Hall and threatened to shoot the lab unless it was evacuated. Cal State LA's Department of Public Safety evacuated the lab as a precaution and emailed the campus community, characterizing the threat as non-credible. Six days later, on November 4, 2019, a separate mass-shooter rumor targeted the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library — Public Safety responded with increased patrols but did not evacuate. The pair of incidents fits a broader pattern of campus threats hitting California universities in fall 2019 — including at Cal State Long Beach the same month — and would later be a touchstone in student petitions demanding that CSULA publish updated active-shooter protocols. The case is significant for the archive because it documents an HSI's email-only alert posture (rather than SMS-first) and the deliberate use of 'non-credible' framing in the same message that announces an evacuation — a tension that has since been criticized for muddying student understanding of risk.
Analysis

Key Findings

Cal State LA used email-only mass alerts for the evacuation, with no concurrent SMS — a posture that left the response slower than peer CSUs that had adopted SMS-first by 2019
The Annex Lab evacuation was driven by a phoned-in 'evacuate or I shoot' demand — a coercive call pattern distinct from anonymous tips or rumor-driven threats
Public Safety simultaneously evacuated the lab AND characterized the threat as 'non-credible' in the same message — a framing tension that has since been criticized for being confusing
A second mass-shooter rumor targeted the JFK Library six days later, drawing increased patrols but no evacuation — suggesting CSULA had begun calibrating its response by threat-channel credibility
The case became a touchstone in student petitions demanding clearer published active-shooter protocols at the HSI
Outcome
Annex Lab evacuated as a precaution. CSULA Department of Public Safety determined the threat was non-credible after officers patrolled the lab and surrounding areas. No suspect was publicly identified at the time. A subsequent library threat six days later prompted increased security but no evacuation. No arrests were publicly announced.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Student Paper
    BREAKING: Shooting Threat Called Into Annex Lab — University Times (CSULA student paper)
    csulauniversitytimes.com
  2. News
    Student Computer Lab at CSULA Evacuated Amid Shooting Threat — MyNewsLA
    mynewsla.com
  3. Student Paper
    Second Mass Shooter Threat within a Week Targets Library — University Times
    csulauniversitytimes.com
  4. News
    Cal State LA Receives Two Threats In the Span of a Week — Campus Security Today
    campussecuritytoday.com
  5. News
    Threat At Cal State Los Angeles Prompts Increase In Security — Patch
    patch.com
Tags
threat-of-violencehsihispanic-servingcaliforniaevacuationcsu-systemannex-labsalazar-hallnon-crediblephoned-in-threateast-laUnfounded
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion