Campus Alert Archive
UTC

100 Officers, Zero Shooters: UTC Locked Down During First Week of Classes After Purgatory Swatting Call

TNswattingemergency notificationmedium 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.

On August 21, 2025, a 911 call at approximately 12:29 PM EDT falsely reported an active shooter in the library at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga during the first week of the fall semester. More than 100 law enforcement officers responded, and campus was locked down for over an hour before the all-clear was issued at 1:51 PM.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Public Masters · TN
~11,500 studentsUTC-Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Verified verbatimUniversity of Tennessee at Chattanooga (@UTChattanooga) posting the UTC ALERT verbatim on X112 chars
UTC ALERT: Possible active shooter in the University Center or Library. Run. Hide. Fight. More info forthcoming.
Sent at approximately 12:42 PM EDT on August 21, 2025, roughly 13 minutes after Hamilton County 911 received the swatting call at 12:29 PM — the dispatcher reportedly heard what sounded like gunshots in the background of the call
Names two specific buildings — the University Center and the Library — reflecting the caller's claim of being in the library when they saw the suspect
Uses the standard Run-Hide-Fight national-best-practices language for active shooter notifications
All available university police officers were summoned, with over 100 officers ultimately responding to the scene
ALL CLEARSMS+1h 9m
Approximate reconstruction185 chars
UTC ALERT UPDATE: ALL CLEAR. The campus has been cleared by law enforcement. No evidence of a threat was found. The lockdown is lifted. Classes are cancelled for the remainder of today.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed from news coverage; the all-clear was issued at 1:51 PM EDT, approximately 82 minutes after the initial report
Classes were cancelled for the rest of the day to allow students and staff to recover
The incident was later linked to the Purgatory swatting group through an intelligence report
Context

Background

On August 21, 2025, during the first week of the fall semester, a 911 call at approximately 12:29 PM EDT falsely reported an active shooter in the library at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The university immediately went into lockdown, with students evacuated from classrooms and buildings as law enforcement swept the campus. In total, more than 100 officers from multiple agencies responded to the scene. The all-clear was given at 1:51 PM after law enforcement found no evidence of a threat, and classes were cancelled for the remainder of the day. An intelligence report later tied the incident to members of Purgatory, an extremist swatting group that 'very likely made false emergency reports targeting at least 10 U.S. universities' between August 21 and 25. The UTC incident was one of the first in the August 2025 wave, occurring the same day as a similar hoax at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. The FBI investigated, and in May 2026 a Pennsylvania juvenile was federally charged in connection with the UTC hoax and a series of swatting calls targeting universities nationwide.
Analysis

Key Findings

Over 100 officers from multiple agencies responded to the hoax call, illustrating the massive resource diversion caused by swatting
The incident occurred during the first week of the fall semester, maximizing disruption for new and returning students
An intelligence report later linked the call to the Purgatory swatting group, which targeted at least 10 universities in a five-day span
Outcome
Law enforcement found no evidence of a threat after a thorough sweep of campus. The hoax was linked to the extremist swatting group Purgatory. Classes were cancelled for the remainder of the day. The FBI opened an investigation.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Probe ongoing after fake active shooter threat at UTC (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
    timesfreepress.com
  2. News
    UT Chattanooga campus cleared, lockdown lifted (WSMV)
    wsmv.com
  3. News
    Intelligence report ties swatting group to hoax threat at UTC (News Channel 9)
    newschannel9.com
  4. News
    FBI investigates college swatting hoaxes (Fox News)
    foxnews.com
  5. News
    DOJ says Pennsylvania juvenile faces federal charges tied to August 2025 UTC swatting hoax (NewsChannel 9)
    newschannel9.com
Tags
swattingactive-shooter-hoaxpurgatoryfbi-investigationtennesseelibraryfirst-week-of-classespublic-universityHoax
Added April 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion