It was a Friday night at the University of Georgia’s Athens campus, and students were settling into the rhythm of the new semester. Suddenly, at 8:45 p.m. on August 29, 2025, the University of Georgia Police Department received a chilling call: an armed shooter was reportedly near the main library along South Jackson Street. Within minutes, a heavy police presence swept onto campus, officers scouring the area as alerts blared across phones and loudspeakers. But as the minutes ticked by, a different picture began to emerge—one that would be echoed at universities across the state and the country.
By 9:34 p.m., according to Fox 5 Atlanta, a preliminary investigation suggested the incident was a hoax. Still, officers remained on scene, combing through campus security footage and gathering evidence. At 10:39 p.m., the University of Georgia posted on X: “ALL CLEAR.” There was no emergency. Relief spread, but so did frustration and anger. The university issued a statement condemning the false report: “We strongly condemn hoax reports and swatting attempts. These false reports cause unnecessary fear and divert critical emergency resources. Making such a false report is not a harmless prank—it is a dangerous and unlawful act.”
But the University of Georgia wasn’t alone that night. Just after 9:54 p.m., the University of West Georgia in Carrollton sent an alert warning students of a man with a gun near Ingram Library. Emergency personnel soon gave the all clear after determining there was no threat. Around the same time, Clark Atlanta University issued a shelter-in-place order “out of an abundance of caution,” only to later confirm that the report of an armed man was also a hoax, according to WXIA.
Senator Clint Dixon, the author of Georgia’s swatting law, wasted no time responding. In a statement on Saturday, Dixon called the false alarms “an act of domestic terrorism.” He didn’t mince words: “I am outraged by the disgraceful swatting hoaxes that disrupted universities across our state yesterday. Swatting is not a prank. It is an act of domestic terrorism that demands the strongest possible punishment. That is why I introduced and championed Senate Bill 421, which made swatting a felony.” Dixon, himself a target of swatting in 2023, added, “Georgia families deserve to know that their safety is our top priority. Those who choose to terrorize our students and communities will face the full force of the law.”
The events in Georgia were not isolated. According to BBC News, since August 28, 2025, nearly a dozen universities nationwide have been hit by swatting hoaxes, sending students, parents, and faculty scrambling for safety. Swatting—a term for prank calls that trigger a full-scale police response, often involving Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams—has surged in popularity and sophistication. The FBI, in a statement, urged the public “to remain vigilant and immediately report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement.” The agency also noted, “The FBI is seeing an increase in swatting events across the country. Each false report drains law enforcement resources, costs thousands of dollars, and, most importantly, puts innocent people at risk.”
Villanova University, a Catholic university in Pennsylvania, was hit by two separate threats within four days. Student Ava Petrosky, who was singing in an orientation Mass when people began to flee, told CNN, “Honestly, at that moment I thought, ‘I’m gonna die.’” The panic was real, even if the threat was not. Hours later, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga went into lockdown after another swatting call. Senior Luke Robbins described the chaos to the Chattanooga Times Free Press: “In two seconds, the whole classroom evacuated. Run outside, there’s cops with ARs in the hallways, and they’re like, ‘Hey, go up this way,’ so we get out. Run across the street. There’s even more cops telling us to go. I mean, it was just hectic. It’s crazy.”
Other universities affected in this recent wave include Iowa State University, University of Arkansas, Northern Arizona University, University of South Carolina, Doane University, University of New Hampshire, University of Colorado Boulder, and Kansas State University. The FBI created a database in 2023 to track these incidents and has already logged thousands of cases. The consequences have been dire in some instances: swatting hoaxes have led police to accidentally shoot—and even kill—innocent people, as reported by BBC. Several perpetrators have been convicted and jailed, including a man extradited from Romania and a 19-year-old American-Israeli teen convicted of making thousands of threats to Jewish institutions worldwide.
But who is behind this sudden uptick in swatting attacks? According to a new intelligence report from the Center for Internet Security cited by NewsNation, a loosely affiliated cybercriminal group called “Purgatory” is responsible for most of these recent hoaxes. The group, analysts say, is highly sophisticated and often livestreams their swatting calls to attract new members and business from foreign intelligence services, criminal organizations, and terrorist groups. John Cohen, executive director at the Center for Internet Security, explained, “Purgatory is a loosely affiliated group of individuals who engage in swatting, targeting schools, targeting other locations across the U.S. Our analysts at the Center for Internet Security assessed that most of these events were being conducted by a single group, and that group was, in fact, Purgatory.”
The group’s tactics are chillingly effective. Cohen noted that direct references to university libraries and simulated gunfire in the background are common. The perpetrators use commercial voiceover internet technology to make their calls sound local and realistic, while operating from overseas. Artificial intelligence is often used to create convincing background noises and sound effects. The group operates on platforms such as Discord and Telegram under a larger umbrella organization called “the calm,” which is also involved in other cybercrimes, including financial fraud and sextortion.
Jennifer Doebler, a former FBI agent, told NewsNation that the bureau will likely “treat swatting investigations similarly to crimes against children online,” using undercover agents to infiltrate online networks and track down perpetrators. However, the international nature of these crimes presents significant challenges—many swatters operate from outside the United States, requiring international cooperation for arrests. There is currently no specific federal law targeting swatting, so prosecutors often rely on wire fraud and providing false information charges to build their cases.
For students, parents, and university officials, the fallout is more than just a momentary scare. Each swatting call not only wastes precious law enforcement resources but also risks deadly consequences if officers respond to a perceived threat or, conversely, become complacent in the face of a real emergency. As John Cohen warned, “Any delay can mean people die,” especially if authorities hesitate to respond to a genuine crisis because they suspect another hoax.
As the fall semester gets underway, universities across the country are grappling with how to keep their communities safe in the face of this new, tech-savvy threat. The FBI’s Atlanta field office confirmed it is working with state and local authorities to investigate the surge in swatting calls. In the meantime, campuses are urging vigilance and reminding everyone that these false alarms are not harmless pranks—they’re dangerous acts that carry real consequences for everyone involved.
The events of August 29, 2025, serve as a stark reminder that in an age of instant communication and digital anonymity, the line between hoax and horror can be frighteningly thin. For now, universities, law enforcement, and lawmakers are racing to close that gap before another night of panic becomes something far worse.
