Campus Alert Archive
NDSU

Albrecht Boulevard, 10:15 PM: NDSU's Late-Summer Swatting in the Tail of the Purgatory Wave

NDswattingemergency 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.

On the night of August 28, 2025, Fargo Police and NDSU Police responded to a possible swatting call on the NDSU campus around 10:15 PM CDT. Dispatch logs from the Red River Regional Dispatch Center showed two calls at 10:12 and 10:14 PM CDT reporting an 'active assailant' and 'gun shots heard' in the 1200 block of Albrecht Boulevard North. Officers searched the area and found no evidence supporting the threat. The incident came at the tail end of a national wave of college swatting hoaxes that began on August 21, 2025.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
North Dakota State University
Public R1 · ND
~12,100 studentsNDSU Alert
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 reconstruction153 chars
NDSU Alert: Police are responding to a report of an active threat on campus near Albrecht Boulevard. Avoid the area. Shelter in place. Updates to follow.

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

The 1200 block of Albrecht Boulevard North includes residence halls and academic buildings on NDSU's main campus
NDSU's emergency notification system uses Rave Mobile Safety to push SMS, email, and voice messages simultaneously
The dispatch logs showed two near-simultaneous calls at 10:12 and 10:14 PM CDT — a pattern consistent with the August 2025 Purgatory wave
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstruction182 chars
NDSU Alert: All clear. Police searched the area near Albrecht Boulevard and found no evidence of a threat. The report appears to have been a false call. Normal operations may resume.

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

Officers from Fargo Police and NDSU Police conducted a building-by-building check before issuing the all-clear
The all-clear came approximately 75 minutes after the initial alert
NDSU was the second North Dakota institution publicly hit in the 2025 swatting wave, following a separate K-12 incident earlier that month
Context

Background

North Dakota State University is the state's land-grant flagship and a Carnegie R1 doctoral institution serving approximately 12,100 students in Fargo. NDSU operates an NDSU Alert emergency notification system administered through Rave Mobile Safety. On the night of August 28, 2025, the Red River Regional Dispatch Center received two near-simultaneous calls at 10:12 and 10:14 PM CDT reporting an 'active assailant' and 'gun shots heard' in the 1200 block of Albrecht Boulevard North on NDSU's main campus. Fargo Police and NDSU Police responded immediately and conducted a search of the area. No evidence of any shooting or assailant was found, and the threat was deemed not credible. The incident occurred during the tail of a national wave of college swatting hoaxes — beginning on August 21 with the Villanova call and continuing through Iowa State, Kansas State, Auburn, UNH, the University of Arkansas, Texas Tech, NAU, and many other campuses. The wave was later linked by the FBI to a coordinated group called 'Purgatory'. NDSU was the second North Dakota institution publicly hit in the 2025 cycle and was, like most others, a relatively brief but intensive response that ended without injury. The case is significant because it documents how the Purgatory wave reached the upper Midwest land-grant universities even after its initial concentration on coastal and southern campuses.
Analysis

Key Findings

NDSU was the second North Dakota institution publicly hit in the 2025 college swatting wave
Two near-simultaneous dispatch calls at 10:12 and 10:14 PM CDT — a pattern consistent with the Purgatory wave
Total response cycle from initial alert to all-clear was approximately 75 minutes
Officers from Fargo Police and NDSU Police searched the area without finding any evidence of a real threat
The incident came in the tail of the August 2025 wave, which by NDSU's date had already hit dozens of campuses including Iowa State, Kansas State, Auburn, and UNH
Outcome
Fargo Police and NDSU Police searched the 1200 block of Albrecht Boulevard North area and found no evidence of any shooting or assailant. The threat was deemed not credible. No injuries occurred. The incident matched the pattern of dozens of late-August 2025 college swatting calls and was reported to federal authorities.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Fargo Police respond to threat on NDSU campus - Valley News Live
    valleynewslive.com
  2. News
    Fargo, NDSU police respond to report of threat on campus - InForum
    inforum.com
  3. News
    More Than 20 Active Shooting Hoaxes Have Locked Down Colleges Over the Past Two Weeks - The Trace
    thetrace.org
  4. Official
    University Police and Safety Office - NDSU
    ndsu.edu
Tags
swattingnorth-dakotandsufargoalbrecht-boulevardpurgatory-wave2025-swatting-waveactive-assailant-callfbi-investigationHoax
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion