Campus Alert Archive
Trinity

Sixty Students at the Stacks: Trinity Evacuates Raether Library on a Monday Night

CTbomb threatemergency notificationmedium confidence

On the evening of Monday, September 23, 2024, Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut received a phoned bomb threat targeting the Raether Library and Information Technology Center at approximately 6:20 PM EDT. Approximately 60 students were inside when the alert went out. Hartford Police, Hartford Fire, and Trinity Campus Safety responded; the library was evacuated and searched. Authorities determined the threat was vague and non-credible.

Alerts
2
Response
0 min
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Trinity College
Private Liberal Arts · CT
~2,200 studentsTrinity 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 reconstruction191 chars
Trinity Alert: Bomb threat received against Raether Library. Evacuate the library immediately and proceed to a safe distance. Avoid the area. Hartford Police and Campus Safety are responding.

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

Sent at 6:20 PM EDT — the same time Trinity received the threat, an unusually fast turnaround driven by the library being actively occupied with approximately 60 students
The Raether Library and Information Technology Center is Trinity's main library, named for the Raether family — a high-traffic building during Monday evening study hours
Trinity sits in Hartford's Frog Hollow neighborhood; Hartford Police were on scene within minutes of the alert
ALL CLEARSMS+2h 10m
Approximate reconstruction224 chars
Trinity Alert: The Raether Library has been searched and cleared by Hartford Police. The bomb threat was determined to be non-credible. The library has reopened. Counseling resources are available through the Bantam Network.

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

Sent approximately two hours after the initial evacuation alert — consistent with the typical small-LAC library-evacuation duration when canine sweeps must be coordinated with city police
The 'Bantam Network' is Trinity's first-year and student-support program, which routinely activates counseling resources after high-stress incidents
The non-credible determination matched a broader pattern of Connecticut-college bomb threats in September 2024; CT Mirror documented the wave at high schools and colleges across the state
Context

Background

On the evening of Monday, September 23, 2024, Trinity College) — a 2,200-student private liberal arts college founded in 1823 in Hartford's Frog Hollow neighborhood — received a phoned bomb threat targeting the Raether Library and Information Technology Center at approximately 6:20 PM EDT. Approximately 60 students were inside studying when Trinity Campus Safety issued an emergency notification ordering the immediate evacuation of the library. Hartford Police and Hartford Fire responded, surrounding the building and conducting a sweep. After approximately two hours of investigation, authorities determined the threat was vague and non-credible. The library was reopened. No injuries were reported. The incident occurred during a documented September 2024 wave of bomb threats and swatting-style hoaxes against Connecticut schools and colleges, with multiple Hartford-area institutions receiving similar non-credible threats in the same week. Trinity later confirmed in its 2024 Clery report that the incident triggered an emergency notification but resulted in no casualties or arrests.
Analysis

Key Findings

Trinity's same-minute alert timing (6:20 PM EDT for both the threat receipt and the evacuation order) reflects the urgency of an occupied-library scenario — approximately 60 students were in the building when the threat came in
The Raether Library evacuation is one of the most-documented Trinity Alert activations of the 2020s and is a benchmark case for small LAC library-evacuation procedures in a dense urban setting
The incident fits within a documented September 2024 wave of Connecticut-college bomb threats; it is part of a broader national pattern of swatting-style hoax threats during the fall 2024 semester
Outcome
Hartford Police and Fire searched the library and determined the threat was not credible. The library was reopened that night. No injuries were reported. Hartford Police continued an investigation into the source of the threat. The incident occurred during a national wave of swatting-style threats against college campuses in September 2024.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Bomb threat at Trinity College Library found non-credible, Hartford police say (FOX61)
    fox61.com
  2. News
    Bomb threat leads to evacuation of library at Trinity College (NBC Connecticut)
    nbcconnecticut.com
  3. News
    Bomb threat evacuate Trinity College Library amid growing concerns (WFSB)
    wfsb.com
  4. News
    Trinity College library evacuated due to bomb threat (WTNH)
    wtnh.com
  5. News
    Trinity College Library evacuated after 'non-credible' bomb threat (Wilton Bulletin / Hearst)
    wiltonbulletin.com
Tags
bomb-threatlibrary-evacuationhoaxconnecticuthartfordswatting-wave-2024raether-libraryprivate-liberal-arts
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion