SALT LAKE CITY, UT — University of Utah police are investigating multiple threatening emails sent overnight to campus offices, and officials say the messages appear to be part of a swatting incident. The university’s Department of Public Safety said it is monitoring the situation and working to identify who sent the emails.
Police said they do not believe there is an active threat. Instead, investigators think the messages fit the pattern of a false report or threat meant to trigger an emergency response and cause disruption.
Officials say the emails look like a swatting hoax
Campus authorities described the messages as coming from what appears to be a single individual. That detail is part of why investigators believe the incident may be coordinated rather than random.
Swatting is a form of harassment in which someone makes a false threat or report against a person, organization or location to bring police or other emergency responders to the scene. University officials said these kinds of hoaxes can create major disruption even when there is no real danger.
Police ask students and staff to send in disturbing messages
The University of Utah Police Department is asking anyone who received emails containing disturbing or violent imagery to forward them to uupd-tips@utah.edu. That tip line gives investigators a way to collect the messages and compare them as they work to trace the sender.
For urgent situations, the department is telling people to call 911. For non-emergency concerns, officials say to use 801-585-2677. The guidance is meant to keep students, staff and faculty connected to the right response channel while the investigation continues.
Campus community is still dealing with a tense week
The overnight emails arrived after a difficult week on campus for some students. A photo of a student posing with a cake reading “Happy Kirkiversary” spread online and led to allegations of doxxing against College Republicans at the University of Utah leaders.
According to the report from the university’s response, both sides received threats after the image went viral. The university began looking into that incident, but the matter was eventually dismissed. The new email scare adds another round of concern for a campus that has already been under strain.
Why swatting threats can rattle a university
Even when police say there is no active threat, swatting can still unsettle a campus fast. Officials said the goal of a hoax like this is to mobilize an emergency response and create confusion.
On a large university campus, that can mean extra calls to police, concern among students and staff, and time spent checking messages and tracking down the sender. University officials have not said whether any buildings were evacuated or whether the emails targeted specific offices, but they are treating the matter as a police investigation.
What investigators have said so far
As of now, university police are still trying to identify the person behind the emails. Officials have not publicly said what was written in the messages or how many offices received them, only that there were multiple threatening emails sent overnight.
The department said it believes the situation is isolated to the hoax itself rather than an immediate danger to campus. Amelia Hobson contributed to the reporting on the incident, which was shared by ABC4.
Local news that matters, from Dulaney Griffin.
