Campus Alert Archive
SJU

27-Minute Silence: Hawk Hill Hid in Bathrooms While SJU Waited to Send 'No Emergency'

PAswattingemergency 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 March 30, 2023, Saint Joseph's University's Office of Public Safety received a false active-shooter report at the Francis A. Drexel Library at 2:42 PM EDT, but the first SJUSafe alert was not sent until 3:09 PM EDT — 27 minutes later, and only after officers had cleared the library. During the silent gap, students barricaded themselves in study rooms and hid in bathroom stalls based on rumors spreading through group chats. The university subsequently overhauled its protocol to require an immediate shelter-in-place alert for any future active-shooter report.

Alerts
1
Response
27 min
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Saint Joseph's University
Private Masters · PA
~7,800 studentsOmnilertSJUSafe
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

1 message in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Verified verbatimThe Hawk News (SJU student newspaper) quoting the verbatim 3:09 PM SJU Safe alert164 chars
No emergency on Hawk Hill. The report of an active shooter in Drexel Library has been investigated and was inaccurate. There is no emergency situation on Hawk Hill.
Verbatim SJUSafe text quoted by The Hawk News — note the repetition of 'No emergency on Hawk Hill' that bookends the alert, an unusual rhetorical structure for a campus notification
Sent 27 minutes after the 2:42 PM EDT off-campus 911 call reporting the false shooter, during which students hid in bathroom stalls and barricaded themselves in study rooms based on unofficial rumors
The lack of any prior shelter-in-place alert before this 'no emergency' message was the central failure that drove the Student Senate to publicly call SJU's response 'unacceptable'
The terse 'inaccurate' phrasing for what was actually a swatting hoax avoids alarming language but understates the deliberate nature of the false report
Context

Background

On the afternoon of March 30, 2023, the Office of Public Safety & Security at Saint Joseph's University — the Jesuit Catholic university on City Avenue in Philadelphia — received a phoned-in report of an active shooter inside the Francis A. Drexel Library at 2:42 PM EDT. Officers responded immediately and cleared the library, finding no threat. But the first community-wide SJUSafe alert did not go out until 3:09 PM EDT — 27 minutes later — and when it did, it simply read 'No emergency on Hawk Hill,' with no prior shelter-in-place message. Students in the library had spent those 27 minutes barricaded in study rooms and bathroom stalls, reacting only to text messages from friends. The Student Senate issued a public statement calling 'the lack of communication with the student body regarding the nature of this incident as it happened was unacceptable.' In response, the university announced it would change its protocol to send an immediate shelter-in-place alert with any future active-shooter report, regardless of preliminary findings. The incident was part of a wave of swatting calls targeting U.S. universities in spring 2023.
Analysis

Key Findings

The 27-minute gap between the 2:42 PM EDT 911 call and the 3:09 PM EDT SJUSafe alert became a national case study in the timely-warning vs. emergency-notification distinction under the Clery Act
By the time SJU sent its first alert, officers had already cleared the library — meaning students received an 'all-clear' as their first notification, an inversion of the standard alert sequence
The Student Senate's public condemnation drove SJU to commit to a 'send first, verify later' protocol for active-shooter reports going forward, aligning with FBI best-practice guidance during the 2023 swatting wave
Outcome
Officers cleared the Francis A. Drexel Library and confirmed no shooter was present. Philadelphia Police characterized the call as 'probably a prank,' part of a wave of swatting calls targeting U.S. universities in spring 2023. The university announced it would change its protocol to send an immediate shelter-in-place alert for any future active-shooter report, regardless of preliminary findings.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    St. Joe's University vows improvements after confusion over active shooter report (Philadelphia Inquirer)
    inquirer.com
  2. Student Paper
    Hawk Hill reels from false active shooter report (The Hawk News)
    sjuhawknews.com
  3. Student Paper
    University begins to address gaps in communication since false shooter incident (The Hawk News)
    sjuhawknews.com
  4. Official
    Public Safety & Security | Saint Joseph's University
    sju.edu
Tags
swattingfalse-shooterhoaxlibraryjesuitcatholicphiladelphiacommunication-failuredelayed-alertprotocol-overhaulprivate-mastersverbatim-confirmedHoax
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion