Campus Alert Archive
NCCU

NCCU Evacuated in First Wave of What Would Become the Largest HBCU Threat Campaign in History

NCbomb threatemergency 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.

North Carolina Central University received a bomb threat call to its campus police department at approximately 5:30 p.m. EST on January 4, 2022, as part of the very first wave of coordinated HBCU bomb threats. The campus was placed on lockdown and an Eagle Alert directed people to leave campus; law enforcement including Durham Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted a sweep. An all-clear was issued at 9:15 p.m. EST the same evening. No explosive devices were found. NCCU was one of at least seven HBCUs targeted that day in a campaign that would eventually produce at least 57 bomb threats against HBCUs and other institutions and target dozens of Black colleges over the following weeks.

Alerts
3
Response
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Killed
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Injured
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Institution
North Carolina Central University
Hbcu · NC
~8,200 studentsEagle Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence · 2 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 ALERTSMS
Verified verbatimCampus Echo Online, NCCU's student newspaper, quoted the Eagle Alert verbatim; alert issued at 5:36 PM EST on January 4, 2022265 chars
A BOMB THREAT has been reported on campus. Please proceed immediately to the nearest exit and vacate the building. Leave campus. All employees should return home. Students who cannot return home should report to Hillside High School Parking Lot. THIS IS NOT A DRILL
Verbatim from the Eagle Alert system as quoted by Campus Echo Online, NCCU's student newspaper; the alert was issued at 5:36 PM EST, approximately six minutes after NCCU Police received the threat call at approximately 5:30 PM
NCCU chose evacuation rather than shelter-in-place, differing from the protocols other HBCUs adopted later in the wave; the designated off-campus assembly point was Hillside High School Parking Lot
The all-caps 'THIS IS NOT A DRILL' closing was a formatting standard in Eagle Alert's mass-notification system, emphasizing urgency
Part of the January 4 first wave of HBCU bomb threats that hit at least seven institutions the same day
UPDATETwitter/X
Verified verbatimNCCU official Twitter/X account Eagle Alert tweet, as quoted by Campus Echo Online and multiple news outlets including The Hill166 chars
#EagleAlert: All students who require transportation off campus to the evacuation point should report to the Lower Lot of the Mary Townes Science Complex parking lot.
Verbatim from the NCCU official Twitter/X account, as reported by Campus Echo Online and confirmed by The Hill and IBTimes
The Mary Townes Science Complex Lower Lot served as the on-campus staging point for students needing bus transport to Hillside High School off campus
The #EagleAlert hashtag was NCCU's standard social-media alert signifier
ALL CLEARSMS+3h 39m
Approximate reconstruction269 chars
Eagle Alert: An all-clear has been issued. Law enforcement, including the ATF and Durham Police, have completed a thorough sweep of the campus and no explosive devices were found. Students who were relocated off-campus will be transported back to their residence halls.

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

Reconstructed; all-clear was issued at 9:15 PM EST on January 4, 2022 -- the same evening as the threat, not the next morning
Roughly four-hour gap between the 5:36 PM alert and the 9:15 PM all-clear; relocated students were bused back to residence halls
ATF and Durham Police were among the agencies that conducted the sweep
Context

Background

North Carolina Central University, a public HBCU in Durham, North Carolina, was among the very first institutions targeted in what would become the largest coordinated bomb threat campaign against HBCUs in modern history. According to NCCU's official update, NCCU Police received the threat call at approximately 5:30 p.m. EST on January 4, 2022; the campus was placed on lockdown, an Eagle Alert directed people to evacuate, and an all-clear was issued at 9:15 p.m. EST the same evening. The January 4 wave hit at least seven HBCUs simultaneously -- University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Florida Memorial University, Howard University, Norfolk State University, NCCU, Prairie View A&M, and Xavier University of Louisiana -- before the much larger January 31 wave brought national attention. NCCU, founded in 1910, is part of the University of North Carolina system and enrolls approximately 8,200 students. The university chose to evacuate the campus rather than shelter in place, a decision that reflected the uncertainty of how to respond to these threats in the earliest days of the campaign. By the time later waves arrived in February, most HBCUs had shifted to shelter-in-place protocols. The FBI investigated the entire campaign as racially motivated hate crimes and later announced that a single juvenile was believed responsible for the majority of the threats.
Outcome
Campus evacuated and swept by NCCU Police, Durham Police, and the ATF. No explosive devices found. All-clear issued at 9:15 p.m. EST on January 4, 2022; relocated students were transported back to residence halls.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Student Paper
    NCCU Eagle Alert: Bomb threat (Campus Echo Online)
    campusecho.com
  2. News
    HBCU in North Carolina temporarily evacuated after bomb threat (The Hill)
    thehill.com
  3. Official
    Update from NCCU (Jan. 4, 2022) (NCCU official)
    nccu.edu
  4. News
    NCCU students worry about safety after bomb threat, crime in Durham (WRAL)
    wral.com
  5. News
    Multiple HBCUs targeted by bomb threats in coordinated campaign (CNN)
    cnn.com
Tags
bomb-threathbcuhbcu-bomb-wave-2022racially-motivatedfirst-wavenorth-carolinaevacuationUnfounded
Added April 2026Updated June 2026Via ingestion