OSU

Do Not Open Robots: Oregon State Student's Bomb Threat Prank Shuts Down Starship Delivery Fleet

Tuesday, October 24, 2023ORbomb threatemergency notificationhigh 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 October 24, 2023, Oregon State University issued an urgent alert warning students to avoid all food delivery robots after receiving a bomb threat targeting the Starship Technologies fleet on the Corvallis campus. The threat proved to be a prank posted on social media by a student who was subsequently arrested.

Alerts: 2
Response: 29 min
Killed: —
Injured: —

Institution

Oregon State University

Public R1 · OR

~34,000 studentsOSU Alert

Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 2 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTPushOct 24, 2023, 7:20 PM MST

Verified verbatimOregon State University official X (Twitter) account151 chars

Urgent OSU Alert: Bomb Threat in Starship food delivery robots. Do not open robots. Avoid all robots until further notice. Public Safety is responding.

Verbatim text from Oregon State University's official X post at 12:20 PM PDT on October 24, 2023

The alert was issued approximately 30 minutes after the Department of Public Safety received the threat report at 11:51 AM PDT

The phrase 'Avoid all robots' became a widely shared headline across national media

ALL CLEARPushOct 24, 2023, 8:45 PM MST+1h 25m

Verified verbatimNBC News quoting verbatim OSU Alert all-clear message56 chars

Emergency is over. You may now resume normal activities.

Verbatim 'Emergency is over. You may now resume normal activities.' quoted by NBC News from the 1:45 PM PDT OSU Alert push notification

Issued at approximately 1:45 PM PDT, roughly 85 minutes after the 12:20 PM initial 'Avoid all robots' alert

By 1:52 PM PDT on October 24, 2023, all robots had been inspected by a bomb-detection K-9 and no explosive devices were found

The student responsible was identified as Ted Daniel Stock and arrested for making the threat on social media

The terse 57-character all-clear contrasts with the 151-character initial alert — characteristic of return-to-normal messages that minimize alarm

Context

Background

At 11:51 AM PDT on October 24, 2023, the OSU Department of Public Safety received a report indicating an improvised explosive device would be placed in a Starship Technologies food delivery robot on the Corvallis campus. The university issued an alert at 12:20 PM telling students to avoid all robots and not open them. Out of an abundance of caution, Public Safety began remotely isolating robots in a safe location for inspection by a law enforcement dog trained in bomb detection. By 1:52 PM, all robots had been inspected and no explosive devices were found. The threat was determined to be a prank posted on social media by a student. The suspect, identified as Ted Daniel Stock, was taken into police custody. Starship Technologies suspended its campus delivery service following the incident. The unusual nature of the threat, targeting autonomous delivery robots rather than a building, generated widespread national media coverage.

Analysis

Key Findings

The threat targeted autonomous food delivery robots rather than buildings, representing a novel category of campus bomb threat

All robots were remotely isolated and cleared by a K-9 unit within approximately two hours of the initial report

The incident generated national media attention due to the unusual 'avoid all robots' advisory

Outcome

All robots were remotely isolated and inspected by a bomb-detection K-9 unit; no explosives were found. The student responsible, Ted Daniel Stock, was taken into custody. Starship suspended campus service following the incident.

Provenance

Alert Sequence

Background

Key Findings

Sources

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