Campus Alert Archive
SUU

A Phone Call, 20 Buildings, and Four Hours: The Swatting Attack That Paralyzed Cedar City

UTswattingemergency notificationhigh confidence
Confirmed HoaxDetermined to be a hoax. The institutional response is documented because it reveals how the alert system performed under a perceived real threat.

A suspicious phone call reporting an active shooter on the Southern Utah University campus triggered a full lockdown at approximately 9:20 AM on April 11, 2024. SUU Police and Cedar City Police searched approximately 20 buildings over four hours before issuing an all-clear at 1:10 PM. No shots were fired and the incident was determined to be a likely swatting hoax. The FBI was called in to investigate.

Alerts
5
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
Southern Utah University
Public Masters · UT
~15,000 studentsSUU Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

5 messages in sequence · 5 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Verified verbatimGephardt Daily quoting the 9:23 a.m. SUU Alert verbatim239 chars
There has been an unconfirmed report of an active shooter on the SUU campus in Cedar City. No further details are available at this time. Please be alert and notify authorities of any suspicious activity. Local law enforcement is en route.
Sent at 9:23 a.m. MDT on April 11, 2024, three minutes after the suspicious phone call to dispatch at approximately 9:20 a.m.
The alert deliberately used 'unconfirmed report' language rather than asserting an active shooter was present, reflecting the lack of verification of the caller's claims
The phrase 'be alert and notify authorities of any suspicious activity' directs the community to act as informants while law enforcement responds
UPDATESMS+10 min
Verified verbatimGephardt Daily quoting the 9:33 a.m. SUU Alert verbatim353 chars
We have a suspicious phone call regarding the possibility of an active shooter on the SUU Campus in Cedar City, Utah. All SUU Facilities are to be on lockdown. Police are on the scene and investigating. A suspect is NOT in custody. If you are campus follow lockdown procedures, go into the nearest room and lock door, if you are not on campus stay away.
Sent at 9:33 a.m. MDT, ten minutes after the first alert, formalizing the campus-wide lockdown
Typo 'If you are campus' (missing 'on') is preserved verbatim from the official alert
The explicit 'A suspect is NOT in custody' line is unusual — it preempts the public assumption that a heavy police presence means the situation is contained
UPDATESMS+29 min
Verified verbatimGephardt Daily quoting the 9:52 a.m. SUU Alert verbatim275 chars
We received a suspicious phone call regarding the possibility of an active shooter on the SUU Campus in Cedar City, Utah. Please be aware of a suspect fitting the description of a white male with black hat, black shades, green t-shirt, long hair, blue jeans, 20-25 years old.
Sent at 9:52 a.m. MDT on April 11, 2024, providing a detailed suspect description sourced from the swatting caller
Pushing a granular suspect description from an unverified call is a common but contested practice — it can both help searchers and seed false sightings
The description (white male, hat, shades, green shirt) is generic enough that bystanders looking for it will see countless possible matches
UPDATESMS+43 min
Verified verbatimGephardt Daily quoting the 10:06 a.m. SUU Alert verbatim338 chars
We received reports of hearing noises that sounded like shots fired at the Science Building at Southern Utah University. All SUU Facilities are on lockdown. If you are on campus, follow lockdown procedures, by going into the nearest room and locking the door. If you are not on campus stay away. Police are on the scene and investigating.
Sent at 10:06 a.m. MDT, this update reported secondary 'sounded like shots fired' noises near the Science Building — later determined not to be gunfire
Demonstrates how rumor escalation feeds back into the alert system during a long lockdown — secondary noise reports become 'official' through inclusion in the alert stream
Law enforcement quickly determined no shots had actually been fired
ALL CLEARSMS+3h 47m
Verified verbatimSt. 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'196 chars
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.
Sent at 1:10 PM MDT on April 11, 2024 — approximately three hours and 47 minutes after the initial 9:23 AM 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
Context

Background

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 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 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 noted that reports of sounds resembling shots near the Science Building around 10:00 AM 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.
Analysis

Key Findings

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 panic, 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
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.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
    Update on Active Shooter Threat at SUU
    suu.edu
  2. News
    Police, FBI investigating if SUU active shooter threat is hoax
    ksl.com
  3. News
    Was active shooter threat at SUU swatting? What we know
    deseret.com
  4. News
    Southern Utah University hoax active shooter threat was likely swatting
    fox13now.com
Tags
swattinghoaxactive-shooter-false-alarmlockdownfbiutahpublic-mastersHoax
Added April 2026Updated June 2026Via ingestion