{
  "id": "2024-04-11-southern-utah-university-swatting",
  "slug": "southern-utah-university-swatting-2024-04-11",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Southern Utah University",
    "shortName": "SUU",
    "state": "UT",
    "type": "public-masters",
    "alertSystemName": "SUU Alert",
    "enrollment": 15000
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2024-04-11",
    "type": "swatting",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "headline": "False active-shooter call prompts a four-hour search of about 20 buildings",
    "headlinePublic": "False active-shooter call prompts a four-hour search of about 20 buildings",
    "summary": "A suspicious phone call reporting an active shooter on the [Southern Utah University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Utah_University) campus triggered a full lockdown at approximately 9:20 AM MDT on April 11, 2024. [SUU Police and Cedar City Police](https://www.suu.edu/news/2024/04/active-shooter-threat.html) searched approximately 20 buildings over four hours before issuing an all-clear at 1:10 PM MDT. [No shots were fired](https://www.ksl.com/article/50978062/police-fbi-investigating-if-suu-active-shooter-threat-is-hoax-no-evidence-of-shots-fired) and the incident was determined to be a likely swatting hoax. The FBI was called in to investigate.",
    "outcome": "Determined to be a swatting hoax. No shots fired, no injuries. FBI investigating the origin of the phone call. All buildings cleared by 1:10 PM MDT.",
    "resolution": "confirmed-hoax"
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestamp": "2024-04-11T09:23:00-06:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://gephardtdaily.com/breaking/report-of-active-shooter-locks-down-southern-utah-university-campus/",
      "sourceDescription": "Gephardt Daily quoting the 9:23 a.m. SUU Alert verbatim",
      "annotations": [],
      "lastUpdated": "2026-08-02"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2024-04-11T09:33:00-06:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://gephardtdaily.com/breaking/report-of-active-shooter-locks-down-southern-utah-university-campus/",
      "sourceDescription": "Gephardt Daily quoting the 9:33 a.m. SUU Alert verbatim",
      "annotations": [],
      "lastUpdated": "2026-08-02"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2024-04-11T09:52:00-06:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://gephardtdaily.com/breaking/report-of-active-shooter-locks-down-southern-utah-university-campus/",
      "sourceDescription": "Gephardt Daily quoting the 9:52 a.m. SUU Alert verbatim",
      "annotations": [],
      "lastUpdated": "2026-08-02"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 4,
      "type": "update",
      "timestamp": "2024-04-11T10:06:00-06:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceUrl": "https://gephardtdaily.com/breaking/report-of-active-shooter-locks-down-southern-utah-university-campus/",
      "sourceDescription": "Gephardt Daily quoting the 10:06 a.m. SUU Alert verbatim",
      "annotations": [],
      "lastUpdated": "2026-08-02"
    },
    {
      "sequence": 5,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestamp": "2024-04-11T13:10:00-06:00",
      "channel": "sms",
      "verbatimText": "All remaining buildings at SUU – have been searched and cleared by law enforcement. It is now safe to exit all remaining buildings and clear the area, while following law enforcement instructions. You may receive multiple or delayed text message notifications, please reference emails that are also being sent with the same information. All classes and activities are canceled for today.",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/local/lockdown-lifted-on-suu-campus-officials-still-investigating-source-of-suspicious-phone-call/article_bcd0fa76-19c8-54a1-8abf-49e946fa5f6f.html",
      "sourceDescription": "St. George News quoting the 1:10 PM MDT SUU Alert text verbatim, with headline 'Safe to exit: Lockdown lifted at SUU, campus being cleared by police'",
      "annotations": [
        "Sent at 1:10 PM MDT on April 11, 2024, approximately three hours and 47 minutes after the initial 9:23 AM MDT alert",
        "The all-clear notably omits the word 'hoax', the institution confirmed the swatting nature of the call in a separate news release rather than in the alert itself, keeping alert language operationally neutral",
        "The phrase 'safe to exit all remaining buildings' implies a staged building-by-building clearance process rather than a simultaneous campus-wide release",
        "DEEP AUDIT correct 2026-08-02: Cited stgeorgeutah.com archive URL is intermediate building-by-building clear piece (named buildings only). Sibling article 'Lockdown lifted on SUU campus' blockquotes full 1:10 p.m. campus-wide SMS including trailing multi-message note and 'All classes and activities are canceled for today.' Archive truncated. Correct to complete artifact; retarget sourceUrl."
      ],
      "characterCount": 387,
      "lastUpdated": "2026-08-02"
    }
  ],
  "context": "The SUU swatting incident was part of a nationwide pattern of campus swatting hoaxes that accelerated through 2024 and into 2025. [SUU President Mindy Benson](https://www.deseret.com/utah/2024/04/11/police-response-to-shooter-threat-at-suu/) confirmed the threat was most likely a swatting call, in which an individual makes a prank call to emergency services to provoke a large armed response to a specific location. The [FBI was called in to investigate](https://www.ksl.com/article/50978062/police-fbi-investigating-if-suu-active-shooter-threat-is-hoax-no-evidence-of-shots-fired) the origin of the call. Cedar City is a small community in southern Utah, and the lockdown affected not only the university but also nearby schools that went on precautionary lockdown. [Local news coverage](https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/southern-utah-university-on-lockdown-after-active-shooter-alert) noted that reports of sounds resembling shots near the Science Building around 10:00 AM MDT caused secondary alarm, though law enforcement quickly determined no shots had been fired. The incident highlights how swatting exploits the mandatory response protocols that universities have developed since the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "Swatting calls can paralyze an entire campus for hours even when no actual threat exists, consuming enormous law enforcement resources",
    "Secondary reports of suspicious sounds during a lockdown can amplify alarm, as occurred with the unconfirmed noise near the Science Building",
    "The nearly four-hour lockdown required clearing approximately 20 buildings, illustrating the scale of response a single phone call can trigger",
    "The FBI's involvement reflects the federal interest in campus swatting as an interstate crime that often originates from outside the targeted community"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Update on Active Shooter Threat at SUU",
      "url": "https://www.suu.edu/news/2024/04/active-shooter-threat.html",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Police, FBI investigating if SUU active shooter threat is hoax",
      "url": "https://www.ksl.com/article/50978062/police-fbi-investigating-if-suu-active-shooter-threat-is-hoax-no-evidence-of-shots-fired",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Was active shooter threat at SUU swatting? What we know",
      "url": "https://www.deseret.com/utah/2024/04/11/police-response-to-shooter-threat-at-suu/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Southern Utah University hoax active shooter threat was likely swatting",
      "url": "https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/southern-utah-university-on-lockdown-after-active-shooter-alert",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Gephardt Daily quoting the 9:23 a.m. SUU Alert verbatim",
      "url": "https://gephardtdaily.com/breaking/report-of-active-shooter-locks-down-southern-utah-university-campus/",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "St. George News quoting the 1:10 PM MDT SUU Alert text verbatim, with headline 'Safe to exit: Lockdown lifted at SUU, ca",
      "url": "https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2024/04/11/jmr-safe-to-exit-lockdown-lifted-at-suu-campus-being-cleared-by-police/",
      "type": "local-media"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "tags": [
    "swatting",
    "hoax",
    "active-shooter-false-alarm",
    "lockdown",
    "fbi",
    "utah",
    "public-masters"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-04-04",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-08-02",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}