An active shooter alert that plunged Villanova University into lockdown on Thursday, August 21, 2025, has been declared a “cruel hoax” by university and law enforcement officials. The false alarm, which occurred during the university’s orientation day for new students, triggered a massive police response and widespread panic but resulted in no injuries.
The campus community received an emergency alert around 4:30 p.m. instructing them to “Move to secure location. Lock/barricade doors,” according to reports from NBC Philadelphia. The alert specified a threat near Scarpa Hall, which houses the Charles Widger School of Law. The timing was particularly disruptive, as many incoming students and their families were on campus for an orientation Mass.
Witnesses described scenes of chaos as the alert spread. Allison Miller, an incoming freshman attending the Mass with her family, told CBS Philadelphia about the “absolute hysteria” as people rushed for safety. Her father, Corey Miller, described people falling and crawling in a stampede to a secure building. “Shame on you,” he said, addressing the person responsible for the hoax. “It’s a sad way to end a wonderful day.”
Multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Radnor Township Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, and federal partners, swarmed the campus. A thorough search of the buildings was conducted, and by 5:47 p.m., Radnor police confirmed that no victims had been found. The shelter-in-place order was officially lifted at 6:32 p.m.
In an email to the university community, Villanova President Rev. Peter M. Donohue confirmed the incident was a hoax. “Mercifully, no one was injured, and we now know that it was a cruel hoax — there was no active shooter, no injuries and no evidence of firearms present on campus,” he wrote, as reported by NBC News. He apologized to the new students and their families, stating, “This is not the introduction to Villanova that I had hoped for you.”
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer explained that the response was prompted by a 911 call at 4:33 p.m. reporting a man with an AR-15-style weapon on campus and at least one wounded victim. Subsequent calls included sounds resembling gunshots in the background. All these reports were later found to be erroneous. Officials are investigating the incident as a “swatting” attempt, a dangerous criminal prank where a fake emergency is reported to provoke a large-scale police response.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro condemned the incident, vowing to bring the perpetrators to justice. “Swatting is illegal. I’ve directed @PAStatePolice to work alongside their partners and use every tool at our disposal to find the person or people who called in this fake threat and hold them accountable,” he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I know today was every parent’s nightmare, and every student’s biggest fear.”
The incident at Villanova was not an isolated event. Earlier the same day, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga also experienced a false active shooter threat, which similarly prompted a lockdown before being deemed unfounded. An investigation into the Villanova hoax is ongoing, involving the FBI, the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office, and Radnor Township police.
