“The goal of whoever did this to our campus was to disrupt–and we don’t want to allow them to disrupt us any further than they have already,” stated Grove City College President Brad Lingo.
A string of false “active shooter” calls disrupted college campuses across Pennsylvania on Sunday, prompting mass police responses and leaving students reeling from the scare.
Authorities say Millersville, Shippensburg, and West Chester Universities, as well as Grove City College, received nearly identical computer-generated calls reporting a man with a gun being seen near the school’s library. State police and local law enforcement worked diligently to clear the campuses while students followed shelter and evacuation protocols, with none of the threats ultimately being found to be credible.
“We have been advised by law enforcement that there have been a number of swatting incidents in the region today,” Grove City College shared in a statement, referring to the crime of reporting false information to law enforcement in order to send first responders to a location to investigate.
Sunday’s incidents were not the first of their kind over the last month in Pennsylvania. On Aug. 24, Villanova University faced two false alerts in four days, the second of which triggered a large response from local and federal officers in tactical gear and a campus-wide shelter-in-place order.
Villanova President Rev. Peter Donohue later called the incidents a “cruel hoax,” noting there were no injuries and no evidence of firearms on campus. The Delaware County District Attorney’s Office said it is investigating the second call with the FBI.
Similar unfounded alerts have also been reported beyond Pennsylvania. On the same day Villanova fielded its second hoax, the University of South Carolina evacuated a library amid false gunfire reports, with officials later reporting two minor injuries tied to the evacuation itself.
Earlier in the week, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga received a 911 call claiming an active shooter; the campus urged “Run. Hide. Fight.” as multiple agencies responded, but no evidence of a shooting or injuries was found.
While the FBI is investigating the broader surge in campus swatting, federal officials have not publicly confirmed the identity of the perpetrators. Some news outlets, however, are reporting that an online figure using the name “Gores” claimed responsibility for recent campus hoaxes and identified with a group called Purgatory, which is linked to a violent online extremist network.
Three members associated with Purgatory were arrested in 2024 and pleaded guilty earlier this year for unrelated threats to a Delaware high school, an Alabama trailer park, Albany International Airport, an Ohio casino, and a private residence in Georgia.
Over 20 confirmed swatting calls to colleges and universities have been reported since Aug. 19, including Mercer, Wisconsin–Madison, Utah, and New Hampshire. Officials across Pennsylvania, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, have stressed that swatting is a crime and say they intend to bring those responsible to justice.
“The goal of whoever did this to our campus was to disrupt–and we don’t want to allow them to disrupt us any further than they have already,” stated Grove City College President Brad Lingo in an email sent to students late Sunday, noting that classes would proceed as normal.
