Campus Alert Archive
Lehigh

'Active Shooter at the Main Building': Lehigh's Second Major Swatting, 21 Months After the First

PAswattingemergency notificationmedium confidence

On the night of January 30, 2025, Northampton County 911 received a call reporting an active shooter at 'the main building' at Packer Avenue and Webster Street — the Business Innovation Building on Lehigh University's south Bethlehem campus. Lehigh and Bethlehem police responded within a minute, the first HawkWatch alert went out moments later instructing the community to 'run-hide-fight,' and was followed by a shelter-in-place modification once police on scene reported no threat. The all-clear came roughly an hour later. The call was a hoax made from outside the Lehigh community.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Lehigh University
Private R1 · PA
~7,800 studentsHawkWatch
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 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 reconstruction162 chars
HawkWatch Alert: Active shooter reported at Packer and Webster. RUN, HIDE, FIGHT. Lehigh and Bethlehem Police are responding. Avoid the area. More info to follow.

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

'Run-Hide-Fight' is the federal Department of Homeland Security's standardized active-shooter response taxonomy adopted by virtually all US universities post-Virginia Tech
Packer Avenue and Webster Street is the address of Lehigh's Business Innovation Building, a recently renovated mixed-use space at the western edge of the Asa Packer campus
The alert was issued under Clery Act emergency-notification requirements within minutes of the report, consistent with Lehigh's after-2023 swatting protocol revisions
UPDATESMS
Approximate reconstruction183 chars
HawkWatch Update: Shelter in place. Police are searching campus and surrounding areas. No threat has been confirmed. Stay indoors, lock doors, away from windows. Updates as available.

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

The transition from run-hide-fight to shelter-in-place is significant — it signals that police presence on scene has neutralized the immediate run option but cannot yet declare all-clear
Lehigh's protocol for differentiating between unconfirmed and confirmed active threats was tightened after the 2023 swatting, per LUPD Chief Jason Schiffer
The Brown and White noted in subsequent reporting that the shelter-in-place message arrived in less time than during the 2023 hoax — an operational improvement
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstruction239 chars
HawkWatch Update: All clear. Police have completed a search of campus and surrounding areas. No threat detected. The report has been determined to be a hoax. Normal campus operations may resume. Counseling resources available through UCPS.

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

Lehigh's University Counseling and Psychological Services (UCPS) is the named on-campus mental-health provider — a standard inclusion in post-incident HawkWatch all-clears
The all-clear specifically used 'hoax' rather than 'unfounded' — Lehigh's official news post used this language as well, distinguishing this incident from the toy-gun-style false alarms
The all-clear arrived approximately one hour after the initial alert, comparable to Bucknell's 58-minute lockdown ten months earlier
Context

Background

Lehigh University, founded 1865, is a private research university of about 7,800 students in south Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. On the night of January 30, 2025, Northampton County 911 received a non-emergency call reporting an active shooter 'at the main building' at Packer and Webster — referring to the Business Innovation Building at the western edge of the Asa Packer campus. LUPD and Bethlehem Police responded within a minute. The first HawkWatch alert went out using 'run-hide-fight' language, then was modified to a shelter-in-place order as additional information began to indicate the threat was not credible. About an hour later, with no shooter found, Lehigh issued an all-clear. The FBI and Pennsylvania State Police joined the investigation. The incident was the second major active-shooter swatting at Lehigh — the first was on May 7, 2023, at the very end of finals week. A subsequent September 11, 2025 racially targeted email hoax at Lehigh was part of the broader HBCU-targeting wave.
Analysis

Key Findings

Lehigh's response — initial run-hide-fight alert, then de-escalation to shelter-in-place, then all-clear — illustrates the standard three-message swatting playbook adopted by Patriot League and Centennial Conference schools after 2023
The one-hour lockdown was operationally faster than Lehigh's 2023 swatting, demonstrating measurable institutional learning
The specific naming of 'the main building at Packer and Webster' indicates the swatter had at least crude familiarity with Lehigh geography — a feature distinguishing this from purely random calls
Lehigh used 'hoax' explicitly in the all-clear, a transparency choice not all institutions make
Outcome
No shooter, no weapons, no injuries. The FBI and Pennsylvania State Police joined Lehigh University Police Department's investigation. The incident was Lehigh's second major swatting hoax in 21 months — the [first occurred on May 7, 2023](https://thebrownandwhite.com/2023/05/07/no-active-shooter-detected-lupd-investigates/). LUPD subsequently issued a 'Follow-up From False Active Shooter Incident' message to families.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
    Follow-up From False Active Shooter Incident (Lehigh University News)
    news.lehigh.edu
  2. Official
    A Message to Families Regarding False Active Shooter Incident (Lehigh University)
    www2.lehigh.edu
  3. Student Paper
    Editorial: Addressing our fears amid shooter scares (The Brown and White)
    thebrownandwhite.com
  4. Student Paper
    Projectiles discharged from moving vehicle near campus, timely warning issued (The Brown and White, references earlier January 2025 alert chain)
    thebrownandwhite.com
  5. Official
    HawkWatch Alert Log (Lehigh University Police Department)
    police.lehigh.edu
Tags
swattingactive-shooter-hoaxpatriot-leagueprivate-r1pennsylvaniabethlehemsecond-swattinghawkwatchfbi-investigation
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion