Campus Alert Archive
CU Boulder

Three Hours of Fear at Norlin Library: Purgatory Group Claims Credit for CU Boulder Swatting That Locked Down Five-Story Building

COswattingemergency 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 August 25, 2025, false reports of shots fired near Norlin Library triggered a campus-wide shelter-in-place order at CU Boulder lasting over three hours. The online extremist group Purgatory later claimed responsibility for the hoax, which was part of a wave of university swatting incidents.

Alerts
5
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
University of Colorado Boulder
Public R1 · CO
~40,000 studentsCU Boulder Alerts
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

5 messages in sequence · 5 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTTwitter/X
Verified verbatimCU Boulder Police on X (verified via search snippet)137 chars
CU EMERGENCY ALERT: Police activity near Norlin Library. Campus-wide shelter in place issued. Emergency personnel responding. Avoid area.
Sent at 4:54 PM MDT on August 25, 2025 by CU Boulder Police via X/Twitter and SMS
Triggered by two calls to Boulder Police and Fire Communications Center reporting shots fired near Norlin Library and Sewall Hall
UPDATETwitter/X
Verified verbatimCU Boulder Alerts on X101 chars
CU EMERGENCY ALERT: Campus-wide shelter in place remains in effect. Avoid area around Norlin Library.
Reaffirmed the campus-wide shelter-in-place while officers continued to clear Norlin Library
Norlin Library is a five-story building at the heart of campus that took over two hours to fully sweep
UPDATETwitter/X
Verified verbatimCU Boulder Alerts on X180 chars
CU EMERGENCY ALERT 5: A shelter in place remains in Norlin Library while CUPD works to clear the building. The campus will send a final alert after Norlin Library has been cleared.
Narrowed the shelter-in-place to Norlin Library only, lifting it for the rest of campus
Students and staff on upper floors began being escorted out around this time
UPDATEEmail+2h 9m
Verified verbatimCU Boulder Alerts archive306 chars
CUPD responded to reports of shots fired at Norlin Library on Monday, Aug. 25 just before 5 p.m. [7:03 p.m., Aug. 25, 2025] If you are still sheltering in place on Floors 1-3 in Norlin Library, please exit from where you are. There are officers in the hallway who will be directing you out of the building.
Update sent at 7:03 PM MDT directing remaining occupants on Floors 1-3 to evacuate with officer assistance
Officers were stationed in hallways to direct evacuees out of the building
ALL CLEAREmail+3h 24m
Verified verbatimCU Boulder Alerts archive163 chars
The CU Boulder Police Department (CUPD) has determined there was and is no threat to campus. CUPD is investigating a potential swatting incident at Norlin Library.
Final all-clear at 8:18 PM MDT, over three hours after the initial shelter-in-place
A third caller had contacted CUPD dispatch to state the school had been swatted, indicating awareness of the hoax
Context

Background

On the evening of August 25, 2025, CU Boulder Police issued a campus-wide shelter-in-place order at 4:54 PM MDT after the Boulder Police and Fire Communications Center received two calls reporting shots fired near Norlin Library and Sewall Hall. A third call was then received at CUPD dispatch in which the caller told a call-taker the school had been swatted. CUPD, Boulder Police, the Boulder County Sheriff's Office, and Boulder Fire responded in force. Norlin Library, a five-story building at the heart of campus, took more than two hours to fully sweep. Students on upper floors were escorted out beginning around 6:17 PM MDT, and the all-clear was issued at 8:18 PM MDT. The online extremist group Purgatory later claimed credit for the hoax, which also targeted Villanova University and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga around the same time. CUPD is working with the FBI and state and federal partners to investigate potential connections to other recent swatting incidents.
Analysis

Key Findings

A third caller contacted CUPD to explicitly state the school had been swatted, indicating organized coordination
The five-story Norlin Library took over two hours to fully sweep, causing a three-hour-plus campus disruption
The online extremist group Purgatory claimed credit for the hoax along with swatting at Villanova and UT Chattanooga
Outcome
Police found no evidence of a shooting after sweeping Norlin Library. The incident was confirmed as a swatting hoax. CUPD is working with the FBI and state and federal partners to investigate.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
    CU Boulder investigating hoax after report of shots fired (CU Boulder Police)
    colorado.edu
  2. Official
    CU Emergency Alert: Shelter in place (CU Boulder Alerts)
    alerts.colorado.edu
  3. News
    Online group claims responsibility for false shooting report at CU Boulder (Axios)
    axios.com
  4. News
    CU Boulder campus shelter-in-place order lifted (CPR News)
    cpr.org
  5. News
    CU Boulder's Norlin Library cleared after swatting scare (Boulder Reporting Lab)
    boulderreportinglab.org
Tags
swattingactive-shooter-hoaxpurgatorynorlin-librarycoloradoshelter-in-placefbi-investigationpublic-universityHoax
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion