Campus Alert Archive
UT Health San Antonio

A Rock Through A Window: The 'Active Shooter' That Wasn't at UT Health San Antonio

TXarmed personemergency notificationmedium 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 September 10, 2025, a man threw a rock through a window on the UT Health San Antonio Long Campus, prompting a campus-wide active shooter alert. UT Health Police, San Antonio Police, and Bexar County Sheriff's deputies responded with armored vehicles and tactical teams before confirming the report was a misidentified vandalism incident. The lockdown lifted within roughly an hour.

Alerts
3
Response
2 min
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Public R2 · TX
~4,000 studentsInternal mass notification + SMSUT Health San Antonio Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence

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
Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from KSAT 12 reporting on UT Health San Antonio's active shooter alert messaging148 chars
UT Health Alert: Possible active shooter on Long Campus. RUN. HIDE. FIGHT. Shelter in place. Lock doors. Avoid windows. UT Health Police responding.

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

Reconstructed from [KSAT 12's reporting](https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2025/09/10/possible-active-shooter-reported-on-ut-health-san-antonio-campus/), which confirmed UT Health San Antonio Police issued a 'possible active shooter' alert on the Long Campus
The [UT Health Police active-shooter guidance](https://utpolice.uthscsa.edu/active-shooter/) instructs the community to apply the DHS 'RUN, HIDE, FIGHT' framework, suggesting alerts would echo that language
The Long Campus hosts UT Health San Antonio's Long School of Medicine, the School of Dentistry, the School of Nursing, the School of Health Professions, and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
UPDATESMS
Approximate reconstruction156 chars
UT Health Alert: Update — investigation in progress. Heavy police presence on campus. Continue shelter in place. Do not leave secured rooms until all clear.

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

Reconstructed from [KENS 5's follow-up coverage](https://www.kens5.com/video/news/crime/man-throws-rock-at-window-causes-panic-at-ut-health-earlier-this-week/273-b289ba0d-3463-4579-b8f3-a1d2a5eb9abe), which reported that the noise mistaken for gunfire was a man throwing a rock through a window
The Long Campus shares perimeter with University Hospital, the public Level I trauma center adjacent to UT Health, which also implemented patient-care continuity measures
Several students later described running through stairwells barefoot after hearing the alert during clinical rotations
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from KENS 5 and KSAT 12 all-clear reporting200 chars
UT Health Alert: ALL CLEAR. There is no active shooter. The reported incident was determined to be a man throwing a rock through a window. Campus operations may resume. Thank you for your cooperation.

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

Reconstructed from [KENS 5's reporting](https://www.kens5.com/video/news/crime/man-throws-rock-at-window-causes-panic-at-ut-health-earlier-this-week/273-b289ba0d-3463-4579-b8f3-a1d2a5eb9abe), which confirmed the trigger event was a thrown rock and not a firearm
Two days earlier on [September 2, 2025, UT Health Tyler had experienced a similar duress-alarm activation](https://www.kltv.com/2025/09/02/active-shooter-alarm-activated-tyler-ut-health/) that Tyler Police later could not verify involved a gun
Both UT Health San Antonio and UT Health Tyler are part of the UT System's medical-school footprint, suggesting a system-wide pattern of false-positive active-shooter activations in fall 2025
Context

Background

On September 10, 2025, a man threw a rock through a window on the Long Campus of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, prompting an active-shooter alert and a multi-agency police response. The Long Campus is home to UT Health San Antonio's five health-professions schools — the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine, the School of Dentistry, the School of Nursing, the School of Health Professions, and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences — making it one of the densest concentrations of health-sciences students in Texas. UT Health Police, working under the DHS 'RUN, HIDE, FIGHT' framework, issued an alert telling the community to shelter in place. San Antonio Police and Bexar County Sheriff's deputies responded with armored vehicles. KENS 5 confirmed within hours that the noise initially mistaken for gunfire was a rock striking a window, and the lockdown lifted. The incident came eight days after UT Health Tyler had experienced a similar duress-alarm activation that Tyler Police could not verify involved a firearm, suggesting a fall-2025 pattern of false-positive active-shooter activations across UT System health-sciences campuses.
Analysis

Key Findings

UT Health San Antonio's Long Campus houses five separate health-professions schools on a single contiguous campus, meaning a single alert reaches medical, dental, nursing, allied-health, and graduate-biomedical students simultaneously — a unique population density in the archive
The September 10, 2025 incident at UT Health San Antonio and the September 2, 2025 incident at UT Health Tyler — both within nine days — suggest a system-wide pattern of false-positive active-shooter activations in the UT System's health-sciences institutions
The decision to immediately apply the 'RUN, HIDE, FIGHT' framework in an alert headline reflects DHS guidance and shows how health-sciences campuses are converging on the same active-shooter messaging as traditional residential universities
Outcome
No firearm was located. UT Health San Antonio confirmed the panic had been caused by a man throwing a rock through a window. No injuries were reported. The campus reopened later the same day.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    Rock thrown through window prompted active shooter alert at UT Health San Antonio (KSAT 12)
    ksat.com
  2. News
    Man throws rock at window, causes panic at UT Health (KENS 5)
    kens5.com
  3. Official
    Active Shooter Response (UT Health Police Department)
    utpolice.uthscsa.edu
  4. Official
    Campus Status (UT Health San Antonio)
    uthscsa.edu
Tags
armed-personunfoundedactive-shooter-alertrun-hide-fightut-healthlong-campustexassan-antoniomedical-schooldental-schoolnursing-schoolrock-not-gunUnfounded
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion