{
  "id": "2025-11-11-mercer-university-bomb-threat",
  "slug": "mercer-university-bomb-threat-2025-11-11",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Mercer University",
    "shortName": "Mercer",
    "state": "GA",
    "type": "private-r2",
    "alertSystemName": "Mercer Alert",
    "enrollment": 9000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2025-11-11",
    "type": "bomb-threat",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-hoax",
    "headline": "Bomb threat, November 11, 2025",
    "summary": "On November 11, 2025, an [emailed bomb threat targeting the Emily Parker Myers Admissions Center prompted Mercer University to issue a shelter-in-place order on its Macon campus](https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/local/macon/bomb-threat-mercer-university-admission-center-bibb-county-sheriff-sweeping-facility-university/93-ef8761d9-0e46-4687-a9a3-76cb702ab86a) shortly after the threat arrived at approximately 12:42 PM EST. Bibb County Sheriff's deputies and the Macon-Bibb Fire Department swept the building, found no device, and the [shelter-in-place was lifted at approximately 2:15 PM EST](https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/11/11/bomb-threat-reported-mercer-university/); investigators traced the email to an IP address routed in Germany and deemed the threat a hoax.",
    "outcome": "No explosive device was found and no one was harmed. The Bibb County Sheriff's Office and Mercer Police ruled the emailed threat a hoax; investigators said the message came from an email account whose IP address was routed in Germany. The university announced at approximately 2:49 PM EST that access to the Admissions Building and surrounding areas had been restored. The incident came less than three months after an August 27, 2025 active-threat swatting call against the same campus."
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 12:58 PM EST on November 11, 2025",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.mercercluster.com/article/2025/11/active-threat-reported-on-campus",
      "sourceDescription": "The Mercer Cluster student newspaper (reconstructed shelter-in-place wording)",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 2:49 PM EST on November 11, 2025",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.mercercluster.com/article/2025/11/active-threat-reported-on-campus",
      "sourceDescription": "The Mercer Cluster student newspaper (reconstructed all-clear wording)",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "update",
      "timestampApprox": "Approximately 1:21 PM EST on November 11, 2025",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "This is a follow-up notice regarding the active threat reported at the Macon Campus. There is a law enforcement presence at the Admissions Building, and the area is secured. Please stay away from the Admissions Building and surrounding areas until further notice. There is an active law enforcement presence, and your cooperation is essential to ensure safety. All other campus operations will continue as normal at this time. Continue to remain aware of your surroundings and follow official updates from Mercer Police and University Communications. Further information will be provided as it becomes available.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "confidence": "high",
      "sourceUrl": "https://wgxa.tv/news/local/mercer-university-issues-shelter-in-place-order-amid-active-bomb-threat-to-campus-building-per-director-of-media-relations-jennifer-fairfield-bibb-county-sheriffs-office-macon-bibb-fire-department-crime",
      "sourceDescription": "WGXA embeds the full Mercer follow-up campus alert in a blockquote",
      "annotations": [
        "Dual HTML + second-blind of the WGXA blockquote. sha256 057bbc8acbeefd86016bd483c95c1e42bf1e3bf51e1a9c834d7b5a130f802497. Chronologically the 1:21 p.m. follow-up between reconstructed seq 1 SIP and seq 2 all-clear; added as seq 3 so existing sequences are not renumbered.",
        "Seq 1-2 stay unconfirmed (Cluster fragments, not full products)."
      ],
      "characterCount": 612
    }
  ],
  "context": "[Mercer University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercer_University) is a private R2 university in Macon, Georgia, enrolling roughly 9,000 students. On Tuesday, November 11, 2025, [a bomb threat was emailed to the university's admissions address at approximately 12:42 PM EST](https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/bomb-threat-mercer-university-admission-center-bibb-county-sheriff-sweeping-facility-university/93-ef8761d9-0e46-4687-a9a3-76cb702ab86a), claiming there was a bomb in the Emily Parker Myers Admissions Center. Mercer Police issued a shelter-in-place order, and [Bibb County Sheriff's deputies and the Macon-Bibb Fire Department responded and swept the building](https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/local/macon/bomb-threat-mercer-university-admission-center-bibb-county-sheriff-sweeping-facility-university/93-ef8761d9-0e46-4687-a9a3-76cb702ab86a), finding no device. The [shelter-in-place was lifted by approximately 2:15 PM EST](https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/11/11/bomb-threat-reported-mercer-university/), and the university announced at approximately 2:49 PM EST that access to the building and surrounding areas had been restored. Investigators [traced the email to an IP address routed in Germany and treated the threat as a hoax](https://wgxa.tv/news/local/mercer-university-issues-shelter-in-place-order-amid-active-bomb-threat-to-campus-building-per-director-of-media-relations-jennifer-fairfield-bibb-county-sheriffs-office-macon-bibb-fire-department-crime). This bomb threat is a distinct incident from Mercer's [August 27, 2025 active-threat swatting call](https://www.mercercluster.com/article/2025/08/active-threat-reported-on-campus), which was a phoned-in false active-shooter report, and from the March 12, 2026 tornado-warning event also documented in this archive.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "Unlike Mercer's August 2025 swatting, which was a phoned-in active-threat call, the November 11, 2025 threat arrived by email to the university's admissions address and specifically named the Emily Parker Myers Admissions Center",
    "Investigators traced the threatening email to an IP address routed in Germany, illustrating the cross-border, remotely-spoofed nature of the 2025-2026 campus threat wave",
    "No portion of the Mercer Alert sequence was published word-for-word; coverage paraphrased both the shelter-in-place order and the all-clear, so both alerts are honestly marked reconstructed"
  ],
  "responseTimeMinutes": 16,
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "UPDATE: Shelter-in-place lifted after bomb threat emailed into Mercer (The Mercer Cluster)",
      "url": "https://www.mercercluster.com/article/2025/11/active-threat-reported-on-campus",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "Bomb threat made against Mercer University's admission center; sweep confirms no threat (13WMAZ)",
      "url": "https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/local/macon/bomb-threat-mercer-university-admission-center-bibb-county-sheriff-sweeping-facility-university/93-ef8761d9-0e46-4687-a9a3-76cb702ab86a",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Bomb threat made against Mercer University's admission center (11Alive)",
      "url": "https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/bomb-threat-mercer-university-admission-center-bibb-county-sheriff-sweeping-facility-university/93-ef8761d9-0e46-4687-a9a3-76cb702ab86a",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "All-clear given at Mercer University after reported bomb threat (Atlanta News First)",
      "url": "https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/11/11/bomb-threat-reported-mercer-university/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "'It's a risk' | Mercer University secured after bomb threat, law enforcement cautions hoax (WGXA)",
      "url": "https://wgxa.tv/news/local/mercer-university-issues-shelter-in-place-order-amid-active-bomb-threat-to-campus-building-per-director-of-media-relations-jennifer-fairfield-bibb-county-sheriffs-office-macon-bibb-fire-department-crime",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Hoax bomb threat reported at Mercer University in Macon (FOX 5 Atlanta)",
      "url": "https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/hoax-bomb-threat-reported-mercer-university-macon",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "bomb-threat",
    "hoax",
    "email-threat",
    "private-university",
    "georgia",
    "macon",
    "shelter-in-place",
    "admissions-center",
    "international-ip",
    "campus-threat-wave"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-06-21",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-09-14",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}