Campus Alert Archive
WCC

Days After Explosive at Capitol, Lander's 200-Student Catholic College Becomes the Smallest Target in the 2025 Email Bomb-Threat Wave

WYbomb threatemergency notificationlow 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 Thursday, October 23, 2025, the Lander Police Department received reports of an emailed bomb threat directed at Wyoming Catholic College, a 200-student Catholic liberal-arts college in central Wyoming. Officers responded with the Wyoming Department of Investigation and FBI; no explosive devices or credible threats were found. The threat was determined to be part of the same hoax pattern affecting universities in Maryland, Delaware and the East Coast earlier in 2025.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
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Institution
Wyoming Catholic College
Private Liberal Arts · WY
~200 studentsWCC Campus Communications
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 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 ALERTEmail
Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from Cowboy State Daily, County 10, and Lander Police Department press release reporting455 chars
Wyoming Catholic College Campus Notice: An email indicating a possible bomb threat has been received targeting our campus. The Lander Police Department has been notified and is on scene. All students, faculty, and staff should leave their current locations and gather at the designated assembly area. Do not return to any campus building until law enforcement provides an all-clear. Please pray for our community and follow all instructions from officers.

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

Issued morning of Thursday, October 23, 2025 MDT after the LPD received the emailed bomb threat
Wyoming uses Mountain Time (MDT in October, UTC-6); the state observes standard daylight saving
Wyoming Catholic College's small enrollment (roughly 200 students) and tight-knit Catholic ethos made the prayer-explicit messaging characteristic of WCC's communication style
ALL CLEAREmail
Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from County 10 and yourwyominglink.com reporting of LPD's all-clear509 chars
All-Clear: Wyoming Catholic College. After an extensive search by the Lander Police Department, the Wyoming Department of Investigation, and the FBI, no explosive devices or credible threats have been found on the WCC campus. The emailed bomb threat has been determined to be a hoax similar to others reported in multiple jurisdictions on the East Coast in recent months. Normal operations may resume. The Lander Police Department asks anyone with information about the sender's identity to call 307-332-3401.

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

Issued later Thursday, October 23, 2025 MDT after the multi-agency search produced no devices
The hoax pattern matched earlier 2025 emailed threats at universities in Maryland, Delaware, and other East Coast states, indicating likely common origin
The incident came just days after an actual explosive device was found at the Wyoming State Capitol, sharpening the response posture even though this threat proved unfounded
Context

Background

Wyoming Catholic College is a 200-student Catholic liberal-arts institution in Lander, Wyoming, founded in 2005 and known for its outdoor-leadership and Great Books curriculum. On Thursday, October 23, 2025, the Lander Police Department received reports of an email indicating a possible bomb threat directed at WCC. Officers responded immediately and began an investigation in coordination with the Wyoming Department of Investigation and the FBI. After an extensive search, no explosive devices or credible threats were found, and the threat was determined to be a hoax similar to others reported in multiple East Coast jurisdictions earlier in 2025. Cowboy State Daily noted the incident came shortly after an actual explosive device was found at the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne, briefly raising the perceived seriousness of the WCC threat. The episode is part of a broader 2025 wave of swatting-style emailed bomb threats that hit institutions including Wyoming Catholic, the University of Alaska Fairbanks (Sept. 30), and multiple universities in Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, Texas, and Alabama on the same fall morning. WCC's small enrollment makes it the smallest known target of the 2025 wave documented in this archive.
Analysis

Key Findings

Wyoming Catholic College (200 students) is among the smallest institutions targeted by the 2025 emailed bomb-threat hoax campaign, demonstrating that the perpetrators were running automated lists rather than targeting prominent campuses
The incident immediately followed an actual explosive device discovery at the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne, which heightened the credibility threshold law enforcement applied to this email
The LPD response — joint with WyDCI and FBI — is unusual for a 200-student private college and reflects the standard 2025 federal-state-local protocol for emailed bomb threats post-Stoneman-Douglas
Outcome
Lander Police, in coordination with WyDCI and FBI, conducted an extensive search and found no explosive devices or credible threats. The threat was determined to be a hoax similar to others reported in multiple jurisdictions earlier in 2025. WCC resumed normal operations the same day. LPD asked anyone with information on the sender's identity to call 307-332-3401.
Provenance

Sources

  1. News
    LPD: Email bomb threat directed at Wyoming Catholic College deemed a hoax (County 10)
    county10.com
  2. News
    Days After Explosive Found At Capitol, Lander College Gets Email Bomb Threat (Cowboy State Daily)
    cowboystatedaily.com
  3. News
    Lander Police Department investigates bomb threat at Wyoming Catholic College (News Letter Journal)
    newslj.com
  4. News
    Wyoming Catholic College bomb threat determined hoax, authorities say (Your Wyoming Link)
    yourwyominglink.com
Tags
bomb-threatemailed-threatwyominglanderprivate-liberal-artscatholic-collegehoaxfbi-coordinationsmall-college2025-bomb-threat-waveHoax
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion