USC police received 2 active shooter calls. It was a hoax, officials say
The University of South Carolina Police Department received two calls around 6:30 p.m. Sunday evening reporting gunfire at Thomas Cooper Library in the heart of the Columbia campus.
Minutes later at 6:34 p.m., students, parents and community members were notified via Carolina Alert, a campus-wide alert system.
“An active shooter has been reported on the University of South Carolina’s Columbia campus. Avoid the area. Evacuate the area or seek safe shelter and barricade yourself in a safe area as necessary until further notice. Defend yourself if you encounter the suspect. Obey public safety officials’ commands.”
It was a swatting hoax — a false call to emergency services.
USC is one of several universities that received false active shooter reports in the last week.
Villanova University in Pennsylvania received two active shooter reports, one Sunday morning and another Thursday afternoon. Villanova University President Peter M. Donohue described the Thursday report as a “cruel hoax.” In both reports, there was no evidence of an active shooter, according to local police.
Another individual also allegedly falsely reported an active shooter at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Thursday afternoon. There was ultimately no evidence of a shooting, according to the university. Police had received a call reporting that a man shot an AR-15 on campus, but authorities are investigating the call as a hoax, according to local reporting.
On Monday afternoon, the University of Arkansas sent an alert that an active shooter was reported at a library. An hour later, the university posted about multiple reports on campus. Before 4 p.m., police announced they were unable to find evidence of an active shooter and the lockdown was lifted.
At Iowa State University, police confirmed that active shooter threats reported around campus on Monday were also false.
On Sunday, USC’s dispatch line received two separate calls, with what sounded like gunfire in the background, USC spokesman Jeff Stensland said. One around 6:30 p.m., the next around 6:32 p.m. This prompted the safety alert.
According to a news release, calls were initiated by an unknown male. Officials say there is currently no evidence that the calls originated on campus. The State has filed a public records request for the transcripts and recordings of the calls.
The rapid response, a split-second decision, was necessary, Stensland said.
Police were immediately dispatched to the scene “without hesitation” in an attempt to locate the alleged shooter, according to a news release. Mutual aid was requested.
Rumors spread that it was video on social media that claimed to show a suspect carrying a firearm that triggered the alert. Those videos, USC officials said, are false.
According to a news release, the footage of a USC student carrying an umbrella was posted online after the initial Carolina Alert was issued. The student had no role in the incident. The university said additional false social media reports have circulated during and after the incident.
The alert panicked campus. Reporters saw people rushing from the library. Across campus, students and others sought safety inside, and some erected barricades. Businesses locked their doors. The bustling thoroughfares, usually filled with students, resembled a ghost town.
“I was literally standing outside [the library] … somebody came and yelled at me, ‘Active shooter, active shooter, active shooter,’” said Sky Johnson, 21, a USC Upstate student visiting his sister for the weekend.
By 7:10 p.m., campus received another update. University police said they found no evidence of a gunman, though law enforcement continued to search, clearing the library floor by floor.
“We could not find an active shooter. We did find people who said they heard something that could have been gunshots. We didn’t find any shell casings,” Scott Prill, the university’s deputy police chief, said at a news briefing Sunday evening. “We also received some reports that there have been some other hoaxes at universities.”
At 8:05. p.m., USC issued an “all clear.”
The university said two students sustained minor injuries related to the evacuation of the building. Those students were transported to a local hospital and have since been released, according to a news release. No shooting-related injuries were reported.
The incident remains under investigation by university police and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
Lucy Valeski contributed to this report.
This story was originally published August 25, 2025 at 2:53 PM.
