Princeton

Bomb threat against four landmark buildings; all cleared within about two hours

AI-generated · every claim is source-linked

Saturday, September 19, 2020NJbomb 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.

A caller claimed to have placed improvised explosive devices in four of Princeton's most prominent buildings: Firestone Library, Nassau Hall, the University Chapel, and the Art Museum. The Department of Public Safety issued a TigerAlert at 11:11 a.m. EDT on September 19, 2020 ordering evacuations, and all buildings were cleared within approximately two hours.

Alerts: 2
Response: —
Killed: —
Injured: —

Institution

Princeton University

Private R1 · NJ

All Princeton cases →

~8,623 studentsTigerAlert

Official alert policy

Read when and how Princeton says it will use TigerAlert (formerly PTENS): summarized, quoted, and analyzed.

Documented Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Confirmed wording is transcribed character-for-character from a primary source. Use Verify this quote under each message to open that source in a new tab and compare the text yourself.

Some messages in this sequence are documented (their existence, timing, and channel are sourced) but their exact wording is not preserved in the public record. Those entries appear as placeholders; only confirmed text is displayed.

INITIAL ALERTSMSSep 19, 2020, 11:11 AM EDT

Wording not yet recovered

A message was sent at this point in the sequence; its exact wording has not yet been recovered from the official record, so no text is shown. This site never paraphrases or reconstructs alert wording. Markers like this one keep the emergency's true shape and become word-for-word messages as recovery reaches the source.

The Daily Princetonian: TigerAlert quoted verbatim

ALL CLEARSMSSep 19, 2020, 1:05 PM EDT+1h 54m

Verified verbatim132 chars

Public Safety has confirmed there is no threat and has issued an ALL CLEAR related to the bomb threat. Normal activities can resume.

Verify this quote

Planet Princeton quoting the verbatim TigerAlert all-clear text sent at 1:05 PM EDT on September 19, 2020, corroborated by The Daily Princetonianplanetprinceton.com find archived copies

Sent at 1:05 PM EDT on September 19, 2020, after sweeps of all four buildings by law enforcement confirmed no explosive devices

The phrasing 'Public Safety has confirmed there is no threat and has issued an ALL CLEAR' is the institutional attribution form -- crediting DPS rather than asserting the all-clear from the alert system itself

Princeton's campus was operating at reduced capacity during the fall 2020 semester due to COVID-19 restrictions, meaning fewer people were physically present in the targeted buildings

Context

Background

On the morning of September 19, 2020, Princeton University's Department of Public Safety received a bomb threat claiming that improvised explosive devices had been placed in four buildings on the main campus. The threat targeted some of the university's most historically significant structures, including Nassau Hall, which dates to 1756 and briefly served as the capitol of the United States. The campus was operating under COVID-19 restrictions at the time, with reduced in-person activity. A multi-agency investigation eventually led to the arrest of a 15-year-old from Saskatoon, Canada, who was apprehended at his grandparents' home in South Vacherie, Louisiana, in March 2021. The investigation involved the Regional Enforcement Allied Computer Team in California, the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, and Edmonton city police. The teen pleaded guilty and was found to be connected to multiple swatting incidents across the country.

Analysis

Key Findings

The TigerAlert evacuation order went out at 11:11 a.m. EDT and the all-clear followed at 1:05 p.m. EDT, after law-enforcement sweeps of all four buildings, a roughly two-hour disruption

The four targeted buildings represent Princeton's administrative, academic, spiritual, and cultural centers, maximizing disruption

The arrest of a 15-year-old Canadian teen six months later demonstrated the cross-border complexity of swatting investigations

COVID-19 restrictions meant the campus was less populated than usual, reducing the number of people directly affected by the evacuation

Outcome

No explosive devices were found. A 15-year-old from Saskatoon, Canada, was later arrested in Louisiana in March 2021 and pleaded guilty to the swatting call.

Provenance

Sources

Every claim on this page is meant to be checkable. Open the links below (and the Verify this quote control under each confirmed alert) to read the original university, news, or archive page yourself. Hostnames are shown so you can see where you are going; archived copies survive when live pages move or disappear. See also our methodology.

Official
UPDATE: All clear following bomb threat - Princeton University
princeton.edu
archived copy
Student Paper
U. issues 'All Clear' following bomb threat - The Daily Princetonian
dailyprincetonian.com
archived copy
News
Saskatoon teen charged with swatting bomb threat at Princeton University - CBC News
cbc.ca
archived copy
News
Teen Charged In Bomb Threat At Princeton University - Patch
patch.com
archived copy
Source
Planet Princeton quoting the verbatim TigerAlert all-clear text sent at 1:05 PM EDT on September 19, 2020, corroborated
planetprinceton.com
archived copy

Cite this case

Campus Alert Archive. "Princeton University: Bomb threat against four landmark buildings; all cleared within about two hours." Incident of September 19, 2020. Added May 2026; last updated August 2026. https://campusalertarchive.com/case/princeton-university-bomb-threat-2020-09-19/

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Alert text quoted on this page remains the work of the issuing institution; the archive is a secondary source.

Alert Sequence

Background

Key Findings

Sources

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