Campus Alert Archive
USC

Simulated Gunfire on the Line: Carolina Alert Sends Full Active Shooter Message After 911 Caller Fakes Background Shots

SCswattingemergency notificationmedium 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 24, 2025, USCPD dispatch received two 911 calls within two minutes reporting an active shooter at Thomas Cooper Library, with the unknown male caller using background noise that mimicked gunfire. The Carolina Alert system sent a full active shooter notification with Run-Hide-Fight instructions to the campus community.

Alerts
4
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
University of South Carolina
Public R1 · SC
~35,000 studentsCarolina Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

4 messages in sequence · 4 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTTwitter/X
Verified verbatimCarolina Alert (@CarolinaAlert) posting the urgent alert verbatim on X135 chars
Urgent Carolina Alert: Active Shooter at Thomas Cooper Library on Columbia campus. Subject reported as 6ft white male with black pants.
Sent shortly after the second 911 call at 6:32:20 PM EDT — the unknown male caller's hoax included background noise that mimicked gunfire
Pushes a granular suspect description ('6ft white male with black pants') sourced from the swatting caller — the same caller who fabricated the shooter report in the first place
Carolina Alert posted this same text to X (Twitter) as well as sending it via SMS, email, and other channels
UPDATESMS
Verified verbatimCarolina Alert official Facebook post (text also quoted verbatim by CNN and WLTX)264 chars
An active shooter has been reported on the University of South Carolina's Columbia campus. Avoid the area. Evacuate the area or seek safe shelter and barricade yourself in a safe area as necessary until further notice. Defend yourself if you encounter the suspect.
Posted verbatim by the official Carolina Alert account and quoted word-for-word by CNN and WLTX
Includes Run-Hide-Fight instructions ('Defend yourself if you encounter the suspect')
The caller claimed to have seen a person carrying a firearm going into Thomas Cooper Library
UPDATESMS
Verified verbatimCarolina Alert official X/Twitter account — verbatim post at approximately 7:10 PM EDT; text also confirmed via official Facebook post155 chars
Urgent Carolina Alert: No evident of an Active Shooter at this time. Police are searching. Please continue to shelter in place until there is an all clear.
Verbatim text confirmed from the official @CarolinaAlert X post; the word 'evident' is the original typo in the sent alert (should be 'evidence') — typo preserved per archive policy
Despite the typo, the message clearly communicates there is no active shooter and instructs continued shelter-in-place
This message was notable for continuing to instruct shelter-in-place even as police found no evidence of a threat
ALL CLEARSMS
Verified verbatimWLTX quoting the Carolina Alert all-clear verbatim121 chars
Carolina Alert: ALL CLEAR. ALL CLEAR. There is no ongoing emergency at this time; you no longer need to shelter in place.
WLTX quoted this all-clear text exactly as sent, including the doubled 'ALL CLEAR. ALL CLEAR.' for emphasis
Notably brief — does not yet characterize the incident as a hoax (that came in later official statements)
SLED was brought in to assist with the investigation into the false reports
Context

Background

On the evening of August 24, 2025, USCPD dispatch received two 911 calls within two minutes, at 6:30:42 PM and 6:32:20 PM, from an unknown male claiming an active shooter was at Thomas Cooper Library on the University of South Carolina's Columbia campus. Both calls included background noise that mimicked gunfire, a tactic designed to make the false report sound more credible. The Carolina Alert system sent a full active shooter notification directing students to evacuate, shelter, and defend themselves. Students in the library and surrounding buildings scrambled for cover, sending frantic texts to family members. By approximately 7:10 PM, police reported finding no evidence of a shooter but continued sweeping the area. The incident was confirmed as a swatting hoax, part of a nationwide wave of false active shooter reports targeting university libraries in late August 2025. SLED and USCPD launched an investigation, and a Pennsylvania juvenile — a self-identified member of the Purgatory group — was later charged in connection with the USC hoax and a series of 2025 swatting calls at randomly selected universities. Parents and students later questioned whether the university's emergency protocols were adequate for handling swatting incidents.
Analysis

Key Findings

The 911 caller used background noise mimicking gunfire to make the false report sound credible, a sophisticated swatting tactic
The Carolina Alert system sent a full active shooter message with Run-Hide-Fight instructions before the hoax was confirmed
The incident was part of the August 2025 nationwide university swatting wave attributed to the extremist group Purgatory
Outcome
Police found no evidence of a shooting after sweeping the library and surrounding area. The incident was confirmed as a swatting hoax. SLED and USCPD launched an investigation.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Officials: USC was target of swatting hoax (WIS-TV)
    wistv.com
  2. News
    University of South Carolina lifts active shooter alert at Thomas Cooper Library (WLTX)
    wltx.com
  3. News
    University of South Carolina: Active shooter report was a hoax (CNN)
    cnn.com
  4. Source
    USC Swatting Incident Highlights Growing Trend (Campus Safety Magazine)
    campussafetymagazine.com
  5. News
    Juvenile charged for shooting hoax at South Carolina college (Post and Courier)
    postandcourier.com
Tags
swattingactive-shooter-hoaxpurgatorylibrarysouth-carolinarun-hide-fightsimulated-gunfirepublic-universityHoax
Added April 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion