{
  "id": "2025-08-29-vassar-college-bomb-threat",
  "slug": "vassar-college-bomb-threat-2025-08-29",
  "institution": {
    "name": "Vassar College",
    "shortName": "Vassar",
    "state": "NY",
    "type": "private-liberal-arts",
    "enrollment": 2500
  },
  "incident": {
    "date": "2025-08-29",
    "type": "bomb-threat",
    "cleryCategory": "emergency-notification",
    "resolution": "confirmed-hoax",
    "headline": "Social media bomb and shooter hoax empties a dorm on move-in day",
    "headlinePublic": "Social media bomb and shooter hoax empties a dorm on move-in day",
    "summary": "On August 29, 2025, an anonymous post on the college social media platform Fizz warned of a [bomb in a third-floor restroom and an active shooter](https://midhudsonnews.com/2025/12/11/former-vassar-student-arrested-in-bomb-hoax/) at a Vassar College dormitory during move-in day. Multiple law enforcement agencies, including K-9 units, responded and evacuated [Davison House](https://patch.com/new-york/midhudsonvalley/feds-charge-former-vassar-student-over-move-day-campus-bomb-threat). The building was searched and cleared. Former student Nigel Trenh was later arrested by the FBI in connection with the hoax.",
    "outcome": "Davison House was evacuated, searched by K-9 units, and cleared. No bomb or shooter was found. In December 2025, the FBI arrested former Vassar student Nigel Trenh in Los Angeles and charged him with making the hoax threats."
  },
  "alerts": [
    {
      "sequence": 1,
      "type": "initial",
      "timestampApprox": "Morning of August 29, 2025 EDT",
      "channel": "push-notification",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from Mid Hudson News and Patch reporting on the campus response",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 2,
      "type": "all-clear",
      "timestampApprox": "Morning of August 29, 2025 EDT, after the building was cleared",
      "channel": "push-notification",
      "verbatimText": "",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": false,
      "sourceDescription": "Reconstructed from Mid Hudson News and Patch reporting",
      "annotations": []
    },
    {
      "sequence": 3,
      "type": "follow-up",
      "timestampApprox": "2 p.m., August 29, 2025, President Elizabeth H. Bradley community letter",
      "channel": "email",
      "verbatimText": "2 p.m., August 29, 2025\n\nDear all,\n\nAs you have read in the emergency alert update, the bomb threat made earlier today has been determined with certainty to be a hoax. Davison House has been cleared by police, authorities, and Campus Safety, and students have been told that they may re-enter their dorm.\n\nThe investigation to determine who is responsible for this hoax is ongoing. We will update the campus community when we have more information.\n\nThis situation has been disturbing and unsettling for our community. Thank you to Campus Safety, Davison House Team members, and Residential Life for helping to resolve the situation quickly and safely. For students who require additional support, please be sure to refer to our Wellness Resources.\n\nIf you have any questions, please reach out to me.\n\nElizabeth H. Bradley, President\nVassar College\nPoughkeepsie, NY 12604\n@ehowebradley",
      "isVerbatimConfirmed": true,
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.vassar.edu/president/community/2025/follow-mornings-alert-0",
      "sourceDescription": "Vassar President community: Follow-up to this morning's alert — Elizabeth H. Bradley letter",
      "annotations": [
        "2026-09-13 catch-up b23 P2 .edu. Dual HTML extract of the Dear all letter through the Bradley signature. Independent second-blind sha agreement. Seq 1-2 reconstructed emergency alerts stay unconfirmed. First burst not newly confirmed: no 25-pass."
      ],
      "characterCount": 885
    }
  ],
  "context": "On the morning of August 29, 2025, Vassar College students discovered a threatening post on [Fizz](https://midhudsonnews.com/2025/12/11/former-vassar-student-arrested-in-bomb-hoax/), a social media platform for college students, warning of a bomb in a third-floor restroom and an active shooter at a campus dormitory. The post appeared on move-in day, when new and returning students and their families were on campus. Students reported the post to campus security, who contacted the [Town of Poughkeepsie police](https://patch.com/new-york/midhudsonvalley/feds-charge-former-vassar-student-over-move-day-campus-bomb-threat). The college received the threat around 9:40 AM EDT and law enforcement from multiple agencies converged on campus and evacuated Davison House. K-9 units conducted a full sweep of the premises, and President Elizabeth Bradley [updated the community via email at 2:00 PM EDT](https://www.vassar.edu/president/community/2025/follow-mornings-alert-0) that the threat had been determined to be a hoax after police and Campus Safety concluded their search. The [Miscellany News, Vassar's student newspaper](https://miscellanynews.org/2025/09/11/news/hoax-bomb-threat-directed-at-davison/), reported the threat was directed at Davison House. In December 2025, FBI agents [arrested Nigel Trenh](https://www.gjllp.com/blog/former-vassar-student-nigel-trenh-arrested-in-campus-bomb-active-shooter-hoax-what-the-federal-charges-mean-and-how-to-defend-them/) at his Los Angeles home. Trenh, a former Vassar student whose LinkedIn indicated he intended to graduate in 2026, was charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York with anonymously posting the false threats. Investigators found the Fizz post was part of a broader pattern of threatening and harassing [communications targeting Vassar personnel](https://mcac.maryland.gov/2025/12/former-vassar-college-student-allegedly-spread-bomb-threat-active-shooter-hoax/), including emails and messages referencing on-campus violence.",
  "keyFindings": [
    "The threat was posted on Fizz, a college-specific social media platform, rather than through a traditional 911 swatting call",
    "The perpetrator was a former student with an apparent grudge, not a random swatting group",
    "FBI arrested former student Nigel Trenh in Los Angeles in December 2025, months after the move-in day incident"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Follow-up on this Morning's Alert pt II (Vassar College, President's Office)",
      "url": "https://www.vassar.edu/president/community/2025/follow-mornings-alert-0",
      "type": "official-archive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Hoax bomb threat directed at Davison (The Miscellany News)",
      "url": "https://miscellanynews.org/2025/09/11/news/hoax-bomb-threat-directed-at-davison/",
      "type": "student-newspaper"
    },
    {
      "title": "Former Vassar student arrested in bomb hoax (Mid Hudson News)",
      "url": "https://midhudsonnews.com/2025/12/11/former-vassar-student-arrested-in-bomb-hoax/",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Feds Charge Former Vassar Student Over Move-In Day Campus Bomb Threat (Patch)",
      "url": "https://patch.com/new-york/midhudsonvalley/feds-charge-former-vassar-student-over-move-day-campus-bomb-threat",
      "type": "local-media"
    },
    {
      "title": "Former Vassar College student allegedly spread bomb threat, active shooter hoax (MCAC)",
      "url": "https://mcac.maryland.gov/2025/12/former-vassar-college-student-allegedly-spread-bomb-threat-active-shooter-hoax/",
      "type": "other"
    },
    {
      "title": "Former Vassar student Nigel Trenh arrested in campus bomb/active-shooter hoax (GJL&L Criminal Lawyer Blog)",
      "url": "https://www.gjllp.com/blog/former-vassar-student-nigel-trenh-arrested-in-campus-bomb-active-shooter-hoax-what-the-federal-charges-mean-and-how-to-defend-them/",
      "type": "other"
    }
  ],
  "confidence": "medium",
  "tags": [
    "bomb-threat",
    "active-shooter-hoax",
    "social-media-threat",
    "fizz",
    "new-york",
    "liberal-arts",
    "move-in-day",
    "fbi-arrest",
    "former-student",
    "davison-house"
  ],
  "dateAdded": "2026-05-02",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-09-27",
  "addedBy": "ingestion"
}