Campus Alert Archive
Galen

A Hoax Empties a Northwest San Antonio Nursing School in Four Minutes Flat

TXswattingemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed HoaxDetermined to be a hoax. The institutional response is documented because it reveals how the alert system performed under a perceived real threat.

Galen College of Nursing's San Antonio campus was evacuated on April 13, 2023, after a hoax active-shooter call, one of at least eight Texas colleges swatted that morning. The incident started just before 10 a.m. CDT at the school in the One Technology building at 7411 John Smith Drive near Babcock Road. San Antonio police arrived four minutes after the call, searched the building, and found no signs of a shooting before clearing every room.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
Galen College of Nursing - San Antonio
For Profit · TX
~2,000 studentsGalen Emergency Notification
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

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 ALERTSMS
Approximate reconstruction171 chars
Galen Alert: Evacuate the building immediately due to a reported emergency on campus. Proceed to a safe location away from the building and await instructions from police.

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

Reconstructed wording; the exact Galen notification text could not be confirmed verbatim, but local coverage reported the building was evacuated as a precaution after the call.
Galen is a for-profit nursing school housed in the One Technology building, illustrating that swatting in this wave reached private career institutions, not just public colleges.
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstruction128 chars
Galen Alert: All clear. Police searched the building and found no threat. The report was a hoax. You may return to the building.

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

Reconstructed all-clear; this qualifies because it lifts the evacuation and confirms no threat was found, matching reporting that officers cleared every room before re-entry.
Police arrived about four minutes after the call, an unusually fast response that reflects how seriously active-shooter reports are treated even when later found to be hoaxes.
Context

Background

Galen College of Nursing operates a San Antonio campus in the One Technology building at 7411 John Smith Drive, near Babcock Road on the city's Northwest Side. On April 13, 2023, it was one of at least eight Texas colleges and universities hit by hoax active-shooter calls in a coordinated swatting wave. The incident started just before 10 a.m. CDT, and San Antonio police arrived about four minutes after the call, searched the building, and found no signs of a shooting before clearing it room by room. The case is notable because it shows the same hoax script reaching a for-profit nursing school, broadening the wave beyond the public community colleges and universities that dominated the day's headlines.
Analysis

Key Findings

Galen College of Nursing's San Antonio campus was evacuated just before 10 a.m. CDT on April 13, 2023, in the statewide swatting wave
San Antonio police arrived about four minutes after the call and cleared the One Technology building room by room
The hoax reached a for-profit nursing school, showing the wave was not limited to public colleges
Outcome
San Antonio police searched the building room by room and found no signs of a shooting. The evacuation was the result of a hoax call, and people were allowed back inside after a security check.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Apparent hoax phone call leads to evacuations at San Antonio nursing school, SAPD says - KENS 5
    kens5.com
  2. News
    Police evacuate Northwest Side nursing school after apparent 'hoax call' - News 4 San Antonio
    news4sanantonio.com
  3. News
    8 Texas colleges and universities receive hoax calls about active shooter Thursday morning - KIII-TV
    kiiitv.com
Tags
swattingactive-shooter-hoaxtexasfor-profitnursing-schoolsan-antonioevacuationemergency-notificationconfirmed-hoax2023-texas-swatting-waveHoax
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion