This story was last updated at 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 26, 2025.
CU Boulder’s Norlin Library was evacuated Monday evening after a false report of shots fired that police are now investigating as a swatting hoax. It took more than three hours to search and clear the building.
The incident began shortly before 5 p.m., when emergency services received a report from an individual who claimed to be at Sewall Hall and heard gunshots coming from the direction of Norlin Library. Within minutes, CU Boulder Police (CUPD), Boulder Police, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office and Boulder Fire responded.
A campus-wide shelter-in-place order was issued at 4:54 p.m., covering all of Main Campus, including Norlin and Sewall. Officers cleared buildings floor by floor. By 5:28 p.m., CUPD said there were no signs of injuries or a suspect, but the shelter order remained in effect for Norlin until the building was fully checked.
Sewall Hall was cleared first. Norlin Library, a five-story building at the heart of campus, took more than two hours to sweep. Students and staff on the upper floors were escorted out beginning around 6:17 p.m., and the all clear was issued at 8:18 p.m.
Police confirmed the report was a hoax and are investigating it as a swatting incident, a false emergency call designed to provoke a large armed response and create fear and disruption.
The swatting call triggered a heavy law-enforcement presence across campus for hours, disrupting classes, study time and evening activities. Officials said the campus community will continue to notice an increased visibility of CUPD officers around residence halls and Norlin Library in the coming days. Norlin Library reopene Tuesday, Aug. 26, for normal business hours
“The incident remains under investigation by the CU Boulder Police Department (CUPD). CUPD is working with state and federal partners, including the FBI, to explore any potential leads or patterns that may be connected to other recent swatting cases across the country,” CU spokesperson Nicole Mueksch told Boulder Reporting Lab on Tuesday.
CU Boulder is the latest target in a string of false active-harmer reports that have affected campuses across the country. In February 2023, Boulder High School was locked down for nearly three hours after a swatting call falsely reported an active shooter, one of more than a dozen hoaxes at Colorado schools that day.
University officials encouraged students, faculty and staff affected by Monday’s incident to seek support through the Office of Victim Assistance, Counseling and Psychiatric Services or the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program.