Campus Alert Archive
Wittenberg

Hate-Fueled Shooting and Bomb Threats Force Liberal Arts Campus to Go Fully Remote After Pet-Eating Rumors Target Haitian Students

OHthreat of violenceemergency 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 September 14-15, 2024, Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, received two threatening emails targeting Haitian members of its community: a shooting threat on Saturday, September 14 and a bomb threat on Sunday, September 15 involving a red Honda Civic. The threats were part of a citywide wave of more than 33 hoax calls tied to false social media claims that Haitian immigrants were eating pets. The university canceled all events and moved all instruction online for the full week of September 16-20.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
Wittenberg University
Private Liberal Arts · OH
Wittenberg University Emergency Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 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 ALERTEmail
Verified verbatimWittenberg University alert text directly quoted in Fox News and BNO News coverage of the September 14-15, 2024 threats; multiple outlets reproduced the same wording220 chars
Wittenberg University is currently taking extreme precautions following an email that threatened a potential shooting on campus tomorrow, Sunday, September 15, 2024. The message targeted Haitian members of our community.
Verbatim text confirmed across multiple news outlets (Fox News, BNO News, Dayton Daily News, WHIO) that directly quoted this Wittenberg University alert; the phrasing 'currently taking extreme precautions' and 'Haitian members of our community' appears word-for-word across all sources
The shooting threat email specifically targeted Haitian members of the campus community, reflecting the broader wave of anti-Haitian threats sweeping Springfield, Ohio in September 2024 following viral false social media claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets
Wittenberg University Police increased security patrols immediately upon receiving the threat; all Saturday events were canceled pending assessment
UPDATEEmail
Approximate reconstruction194 chars
Wittenberg University Police sent an email to the school community at 1:32 p.m. in response to a bomb threat involving a red Honda Civic near campus. Police have located and cleared the vehicle.

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

The bomb threat specified a red Honda Civic parked near the White Stag building at approximately 1 p.m. EDT on September 15, 2024
Police located the red Civic within the hour and determined it posed no threat
The bomb threat was the second against Wittenberg in 24 hours; both targeted Haitian students specifically
UPDATEEmail+3h 53m
Approximate reconstruction231 chars
Out of an abundance of caution, Wittenberg University will conduct all instruction virtually and close all of its campuses for the week of September 16-20. All athletic events and campus activities are also canceled through Sunday.

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

Sent at 5:25 p.m. EDT on Sunday, September 15, 2024
This was an extraordinary measure for a small liberal arts institution -- the university shut down all in-person operations including athletics for an entire week
The football home game scheduled for the following Saturday was among the canceled events
Context

Background

Wittenberg University, a Lutheran liberal arts college of approximately 1,700 students in Springfield, Ohio, became a focal point of the 2024 Springfield immigration crisis after false social media claims -- amplified by political figures -- alleged that Haitian immigrants were eating pets. Springfield had a sizeable Haitian community drawn by manufacturing jobs, and Wittenberg itself enrolled Haitian students. The threats against Wittenberg came amid a wave of at least 33 hoax bomb threats to Springfield institutions between September 12-15, 2024, including two elementary schools, City Hall, and driver's license bureaus. The FBI and Springfield Police investigated both the shooting and bomb threats as federal hate crimes. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine confirmed all were hoaxes. The campus closure marked one of the most significant disruptions to a college campus from politically-motivated hate threats in 2024. Wittenberg was not alone -- Clark State Community College, also in Springfield, similarly received bomb threats and moved to remote instruction the same week. The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force tracked the threat wave nationally.
Provenance

Sources

  1. national media
    Wittenberg University cancels events after shooting threat targets Haitian students -- FOX News
    foxnews.com
  2. News
    Wittenberg University on alert after shooting threat against Haitians -- BNO News
    bnonews.com
  3. News
    Wittenberg moves to online classes Monday after pair of threats -- Springfield News-Sun
    springfieldnewssun.com
  4. national media
    FBI examines threats on Haitians at Springfield Ohio college -- Axios
    axios.com
Tags
bomb-threatshooting-threathate-crimeohioprivate-liberal-artsanti-haitianimmigrationcampus-closureremote-instructionpolitical-contextHoax
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion