Campus Alert Archive
MSU

Snowed-In Saturday Bomb Threat: MSU Police Sweep Old Main and Barnes & Noble in Just Over an Hour

MSbomb threatemergency notificationhigh confidence
UnfoundedNo evidence of an actual threat was found. The institutional response is documented because the alert communication is identical to what would occur during a real incident.

On the morning of Saturday, January 11, 2025, Mississippi State University Police received a phoned-in bomb threat targeting the Old Main Academic Center and the campus Barnes & Noble bookstore. A Maroon Alert went out at 8:13 a.m. CST directing students and employees to avoid the two buildings while officers and bomb-detection canines searched the locations. Police concluded the search and cleared campus by 9:12 a.m. CST, only 59 minutes after the initial alert.

Alerts
2
Response
13 min
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Mississippi State University
Public R1 · MS
~23,000 studentsEverbridgeMaroon Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 2 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Verified verbatimHere Starkville (local news) reproducing the Maroon Alert text146 chars
University Police are responding to a Bomb Threat at Old Main Academic Center and Barnes & Noble. Avoid these areas while investigations continue.
Sent at 8:13 a.m. CST on Saturday, January 11, 2025, after MSU Police received a phoned-in threat just before 8:00 a.m.
Names two specific buildings — the Old Main Academic Center (the largest classroom building on campus) and the campus Barnes & Noble — rather than asking the whole campus to shelter
Uses 'avoid' rather than 'shelter in place,' reflecting a search-and-clear posture rather than a presumed active threat
ALL CLEARSMS+59 min
Verified verbatimHere Starkville (local news) reproducing the Maroon Alert text77 chars
Police have concluded their search. Campus is returning to normal operations.
Sent at 9:12 a.m. CST, 59 minutes after the initial alert
Does not name a specific threat resolution ('cleared,' 'hoax,' 'unfounded') — simply announces normal operations resume
The brevity reflects the rapid clearance after Old Main's electronic access logs and a canine sweep showed no signs of tampering or devices
Context

Background

Mississippi State's January 11, 2025 bomb threat came at an unusual moment: the Starkville campus had been closed the day before for winter weather, spring semester classes were set to begin the following Wednesday, and the MSU men's basketball team was hosting Kentucky for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff at Humphrey Coliseum that very evening. MSU Police received the phoned-in threat just before 8:00 a.m. CST, targeting the Old Main Academic Center and the campus Barnes & Noble bookstore. A Maroon Alert went out at 8:13 a.m. and officers, supported by bomb-detection canine units, conducted a sweep of both buildings. The Old Main Academic Center, the largest classroom building on the Starkville campus, had electronic card-access locks on all of its doors, and a review of the access logs showed no unauthorized entries overnight, helping investigators quickly conclude the threat was not credible. By 9:12 a.m. — only 59 minutes after the initial alert — the all-clear was issued. The incident extended a pattern of bomb-threat hoaxes targeting MSU; the university had arrested a student over a separate fall 2023 hoax that disrupted operations. The Maroon Alert system, delivered via SMS, email, phone calls, the Maroon Alert app, and social media, is operated through the university's emergency information office.
Analysis

Key Findings

The 59-minute alert-to-all-clear window was made possible in part because Old Main's electronic door logs let investigators verify nobody had entered the building overnight
MSU chose 'avoid these areas' rather than a campus-wide shelter-in-place, a calibrated response that limited disruption while preserving the search perimeter
Saturday-morning timing during a closed-campus weather day meant most students were off campus, reducing exposure but also raising questions about whether a phoned threat targeting empty buildings was designed primarily to disrupt the evening's Kentucky basketball game
Outcome
No explosive devices were found. The Starkville campus had been closed Friday for winter weather, and the Old Main Academic Center had electronic locks that would have logged any unauthorized access, helping investigators conclude there was no credible threat. Campus returned to normal operations in time for the MSU men's basketball game against Kentucky that evening at Humphrey Coliseum.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    A bomb threat at 2 locations at Mississippi State University investigated, nothing found (Clarion-Ledger via Yahoo News)
    yahoo.com
  2. News
    No explosives found at MSU after Maroon Alert (The Commercial Dispatch)
    cdispatch.com
  3. News
    Mississippi State University Bomb Threats Prompt Alert (Here Starkville)
    herestarkville.com
  4. News
    Mississippi State University bomb threats response (Here Starkville)
    herestarkville.com
  5. Official
    The Maroon Alert System (MSU Emergency Information)
    emergency.msstate.edu
Tags
bomb-threatsec-flagshipmississippimaroon-alertrapid-resolutionhoaxbasketball-game-dayelectronic-access-logsUnfounded
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion