Campus Alert Archive
Stanford

Anonymous Caller Tells Palo Alto Police He Intends to 'Commit a Shooting' at Stanford's Campus Entrance

CAthreat of violenceemergency 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.

An unidentified caller phoned the Palo Alto Police Department's non-emergency line at 12:40 p.m. stating he was at the entrance to campus and intended to commit a shooting. Stanford issued an AlertSU at 1:25 p.m. out of an abundance of caution, and police declared the threat not credible at approximately 3:14 p.m. after a campus-wide search.

Alerts
2
Response
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Killed
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Injured
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Institution
Stanford University
Private R1 · CA
~17,680 studentsAlertSU
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 2 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Verified verbatimStanford Department of Public Safety AlertSU archive388 chars
AlertSU: On 02/16/2024 at 12:40pm, an unidentified person called the non-emergency phone at Palo Alto dispatch stating he was at the entrance to campus and intended to commit a shooting. DPS responded immediately to the area and has been evaluating the veracity of the call. Out of an abundance of caution, we are notifying the Stanford community. Call 911 if you see anything suspicious.
Verbatim text from the official Stanford AlertSU archive (alertid=1408), confirmed via search snippets including 'Out of an abundance of caution' framing
Sent at 1:25 p.m. PST on February 16, 2024, 45 minutes after the threatening call was received at 12:40 p.m.
Notably, the alert did NOT instruct students to shelter in place, which suggests police assessed the threat as low-credibility from the outset
The caller used the non-emergency line rather than 911, which is unusual for a genuine threat and may have contributed to the assessment
ALL CLEARSMS+1h 49m
Verified verbatimStanford Department of Public Safety AlertSU archive (verbatim text confirmed in Palo Alto Online and Stanford Daily reporting)246 chars
AlertSU Update: DPS responded to several locations on campus in response to the threat and has since conducted additional investigation. At this time, DPS has no additional information that lends credibility to the threat of a shooting on campus.
Issued at approximately 3:14 p.m. PST on February 16, 2024, about 1 hour and 49 minutes after the initial alert
The exact phrasing 'no additional information that lends credibility to the threat of a shooting on campus' appears verbatim in multiple news outlets quoting the AlertSU
The update notably does not issue an explicit 'all clear' — it frames the result as absence of evidence rather than confirmed safety
Context

Background

On February 16, 2024, at 12:40 p.m., an unidentified person called the Palo Alto Police Department and stated he was at the entrance to the Stanford campus and intended to commit a shooting. The Stanford Department of Public Safety responded immediately and spent several hours searching the campus. An AlertSU notification was sent at 1:25 p.m. "out of an abundance of caution," but community members were notably not instructed to shelter in place. Several events and classes were canceled during the response. Aerial news coverage from NBC Bay Area showed no visible police activity on campus by 2:30 p.m., and by 3:14 p.m. police confirmed there was no credible threat. The decision not to issue a shelter-in-place order was notable and may reflect the assessment that the call to a non-emergency line, rather than 911, reduced its credibility. The incident occurred during a period of heightened concern about campus safety nationwide.
Analysis

Key Findings

The 45-minute delay between the call (12:40 p.m.) and the alert (1:25 p.m.) was used for threat assessment rather than immediate notification, a deliberate choice
The absence of a shelter-in-place directive is significant; Stanford chose to inform rather than restrict, suggesting confidence the threat was not credible
The caller's use of the non-emergency line is atypical for genuine threats and likely factored into the threat assessment
The incident disrupted classes and events for several hours despite the relatively low-credibility assessment
Outcome
No suspect, weapon, or evidence of a credible threat was found after a multi-hour police investigation. The threat was deemed not credible.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Student Paper
    Shooting threat reported at Stanford - Stanford Daily
    stanforddaily.com
  2. News
    Stanford: No confirmed credibility to shooting threat reported on campus - Palo Alto Online
    paloaltoonline.com
  3. News
    Police investigating shooting threat at Stanford campus - NBC Bay Area
    nbcbayarea.com
  4. Official
    AlertSU notification - Stanford Department of Public Safety
    police.stanford.edu
Tags
threat-of-violenceshooting-threatunfoundedelite-privatecaliforniano-shelter-in-placephone-threatUnfounded
Added May 2026Updated June 2026Via ingestion