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TAMU
Hoax call reported mass casualties at the health science center; part of a statewide wave
AI-generated · every claim is source-linkedConfirmed HoaxDetermined to be a hoax. The institutional response is documented because it reveals how the alert system performed under a perceived real threat.
On April 13, 2023, a hoax caller targeting Texas A&M University's Health Science Center reported mass casualties from an active shooter in a laboratory at approximately 10:30 AM CDT. Police from across Brazos County responded, including TAMU PD, Bryan PD, College Station PD, the Sheriff's Office, DPS, and FBI partners. Investigators determined the same caller targeted Baylor, Collin College, Texas Wesleyan, Del Mar, Galen Nursing School, Tyler Junior College, and Lamar Tech in a coordinated morning of Texas hoaxes.
- Alerts
- 2
- Response
- —
- Killed
- 0
- Injured
- 0
~74,000 studentsCode Maroon
Official alert policy
Read when and how TAMU says it will use Code Maroon: summarized, quoted, and analyzed.
Documented Timeline
Alert Sequence
2 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim
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Verified verbatim193 chars
The report of an active shooter at the Health Science Center is FALSE. There is no threat to campus. The same caller reported an active shooter at other universities today which was also false.
Posted verbatim by @TAMUPolice on X/Twitter on April 13, 2023, approximately 90 minutes after the initial alert
TAMU PD explicitly used the word 'FALSE' in all caps in the all-clear, a direct, unambiguous choice not all universities make
The all-clear connects this incident to the coordinated multi-school swatting wave by noting the 'same caller' targeted other universities
Context
Background
On the morning of April 13, 2023, a hoax caller reported mass casualties from an active shooter in a laboratory at Texas A&M University's Health Science Center on the Bryan campus. The call came in around 10:30 AM CDT. TAMU Police, Bryan PD, College Station PD, the Brazos County Sheriff's Office, the Brazos County Constables, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Bryan and College Station Fire Departments responded en masse. The Code Maroon alert system (Texas A&M's emergency notification platform created in response to the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting) issued a campus-wide alert. Within approximately 90 minutes, officers had cleared the Health Science Center and confirmed the call was a hoax. Investigators quickly connected the TAMU call to a coordinated morning of swatting calls hitting Baylor University, Collin College's Plano Campus, Texas Wesleyan in Fort Worth, Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Galen College of Nursing in San Antonio, Tyler Junior College, Lamar Institute of Technology in Beaumont, and Woodsboro ISD. Authorities believed the same caller was responsible for all the calls. The Texas A&M call targeted the Health Science Center, the medical-school component of a public R1 flagship, rather than the main College Station campus.
Analysis
Key Findings
TAMU was one of nine Texas schools hit by the same swatting caller in a single morning
The hoax call targeted the Health Science Center on the Bryan campus rather than the main College Station campus
The Code Maroon emergency notification system, created after Virginia Tech, alerted within minutes
TAMU PD explicitly stated the report was 'FALSE' in all caps in its all-clear, a direct choice not all universities make
The April 13 Texas wave was part of the broader April 4-13, 2023 multi-state swatting campaign hitting more than 20 universities
Outcome
No injuries occurred and no shooter was found. TAMU PD and partner agencies cleared the Health Science Center within approximately 90 minutes. The incident was confirmed as part of a coordinated Texas-wide swatting attack believed to come from a single caller, and the wave became the subject of a federal investigation. No suspect has been publicly identified or charged specifically for the Texas A&M call.
Provenance
Sources
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Cite this case
Campus Alert Archive. "Texas A&M University: Hoax call reported mass casualties at the health science center; part of a statewide wave." Incident of April 13, 2023. Added May 2026; last updated July 2026. https://campusalertarchive.com/case/texas-am-university-swatting-2023-04-13/
Alert text quoted on this page remains the work of the issuing institution; the archive is a secondary source.
Tags
swattingtexas-amtexasapril-2023-swatting-wavecode-maroonhealth-science-centerbryan-campuscoordinated-multi-school-attackpublic-r1state-flagshipfbi-investigationHoax
Added May 2026Updated July 2026Via ingestion