UPDATE: August 26 at 6 p.m.
Only days into the fall semester, the University of Kentucky became the latest victim of a growing national issue: swatting. These false reports of an active shooter are disrupting universities across the country, especially as students head back to class.
Just after 12 p.m. Tuesday, a bogus emergency call sent university police racing to the William T. Young Library. According to campus police, they arrived within two minutes and quickly determined—using campus security cameras—that the report was a hoax.
“I was on my way to class, when I rode by I saw all the police and ambulance and stuff by Willy T, and I was like, ‘Dang, I wonder what happened?’” said Zee Gentry, a junior at UK.
Others, like sophomore Antonio Freni, hadn’t heard news of the false report until asked by LEX18.
“I didn't get a report or anything,” he said.
University police say campus alerts are only sent when there is a credible emergency. But false reports—known as “swatting”—are becoming more frequent on college and university campuses nationwide.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, swatting calls increased from approximately 400 in 2011 to over 1,000 by 2019.
Freshman Kaylee Hicks told LEX 18 that incidents like this have unfortunately become more common, both at UK and elsewhere.
“There were some of these reports in school. I think this just happens as social media gets more involved,” she said. “It makes me and my parents a little nervous, but the police responded in less than two minutes, so I know we have a safe campus.”
For many students, these threats—both real and fake—have become a reality of campus life in 2025. “It’s unfortunate, but it’s common now, yeah,” said Gentry.
This week alone, similar swatting incidents were reported at the University of Arkansas, Iowa State, Kansas State, the University of Tennessee, and several other universities. A phony call was made at Villanova University just last week.
“It’s pretty sad to hear that someone is that sick they call something in as serious as a shooting,” Freni added.
Campus police stress that they will always respond quickly and treat every emergency as credible, even if it means diverting time, personnel, and equipment from other needs on campus.
Original Story:
The University of Kentucky detailed on Tuesday that campus police and Lexington police responded to a "false report about an active shooter" near William T. Young Library.
UK reported that police immediately responded to the report in less than two minutes and used campus cameras to discover that the report was a hoax.
Officials added that due to the hoax a UK Alert was not released and community members "did not need to take action." Further, police are reportedly monitoring false reports and threats at universities across the country.
"The safety of our campus community is our top priority and we will continue to keep our community informed of safety updates," the report read.
