FBI, State Authorities Investigating Villanova Active Shooter Hoax​

VILLANOVA, PA — A "cruel hoax" spread panic among the Villanova University and Main Line communities Thursday, as a bogus report of an active shooter was made as students move in for the 2025-26 academic year.

The incident began at about 4:50 p.m., when Radnor Township Police issued an alert regarding repot of an active shooter on the school's campus, urging students and residents to shelter in place.

Move-in activities began earlier this week, and an orientation event was scheduled for Thursday night.

>>>Active Shooter At Villanova University A 'Cruel' Hoax in Photos<<<

From about 4:50 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Main Liners and 'Nova families were stricken with dread that the quiet community was the epicenter of a mass shooting.

According to Delaware County officials, the Department of Emergency Services got a call at 4:33 p.m. of shots fired from a man armed with an AR-15-style weapon on Villanova's campus.

Multiple calls featured gunshot-like sounds in the background, authorities said. These calls are under investigation, according to county officials.

At 5:06 p.m., first responders got a report of a gunshot wound, which out to be unfounded, officials said.

Ultimately, no one was hurt and there never was a shooter.

Local, county, state, and federal authorities responded to the campus due to the hoax. County officials said 18 EMS units responded to the scene in the event of mass injuries.

Villanova said its Department of Public Safety got an anonymous report of an active shooter in the Charles Widger School of Law at about 4:30 p.m.

After a campus search, officials confirmed the hoax, that there was no firearm on campus, and that no injuries resulted from a shooting.

Before the scene was cleared, the report garnered the attention of Gov. Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday.

Later Thursday, Villanova University President Rev. Peter M. Donohue delivered a blessing at the fall 2025 orientation event.

"You may be sitting next to a stranger," he said to the crowd of students. "Because of this event today, we are not strangers anymore."

He implored the budding Wildcats to join hands and invoke God's presence through a recitation of the Lord's Prayer.

"This is the blessing that normally happens at the end of the Mass," he said halfway through the prayer. "It's a little emotional, especially with what has happened in the last hour or so here."

Donohue in a letter to the community called the incident a "cruel hoax."

"While that is a blessing and relief, I know today's events have shaken our entire community," the letter reads.

Donohue thanked first responders for their swift action, as well as the responses from Villanova's Orientation Counselors and university staff.

"Amid my thanks, I would like to apologize to our first-year students and their families," he said. "This is not the introduction to Villanova that I had hoped for you."

Donohue's full letter to the community is featured below.

"This is a crime," Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said Thursday evening while on scene. "We are going to conduct a full investigation."

Stollsteimer said the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division will work with the FBI to find out who reported the fake active shooter. Radnor Township officials said the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office and the FBI are leading the investigation.

According to the county, the calls may have been attempts to trigger a large-scale police response in a so-called "swatting" attempt.

"Law enforcement and EMS personnel operated swiftly and without regard to personal risk, without
foreknowledge that there was not an active shooter," Delaware County Director of Communications Michael Connolly said. "Valuable resources and effort were expended in doing so. In the event that this was an organized, intentional, and unlawful attempt to expend law enforcement resources, county officials are hopeful that the person or persons behind the incident will be identified, apprehended, and brought to justice as soon as possible. Swatting is a crime with severe criminal consequences under both federal and state law."

"This is a serious issue," Radnor Township Police Superintendent Christopher Flanagan said. "We're very thankful for the state police, FBI, to every department in Delaware County, Chester County, Lower Merion, and Montgomery County who have come out to support us."

David Tedjeske, Villanova's Associate Vice President of Public Safety and Chief of Police, echoed those sentiments, thanking the agencies who leaped into action upon learning of the potential active shooter on campus.

Watch authorities address the hoax below:

Read Donohue's letter to the community in full below:

Dear Members of the Villanova Community.

Today, as we are celebrating Orientation Mass to welcome our newest Villanovans and their families to our community, panic and terror ensued with the news of a possible shooter at the Law School. 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. While that is a blessing and relief, I know today's events have shaken our entire community.

I would like to thank everyone involved in securing the safety of our community, especially our Villanova Public Safety department and the first responders from Radnor Police and other local police departments. I would also like to thank our Orientation Counselors and all of the Villanova staff in attendance at the Orientation Mass, who responded calmly and compassionately to a very frightening and unnerving situation.

Amid my thanks, I would like to apologize to our first-year students and their families. This is not the introduction to Villanova that I had hoped for you. And while I cannot do anything to relieve the unrest that you are feeling right now, I can offer a prayer. As generations of Villanovan know, this prayer is how I close Orientation Mass each year. Since we were interrupted today. I would like to offer it now. Whomever you are with. I ask that you reach out to them and repeat after me.

May God bless you and protect you.

May your heart and mind be united in faith so that you may be able to love wisely, work creatively, laugh heartily, and live honestly. May you use your education to bring justice and peace to the world, for the benefit of our human family and all of God's creation.

And may you always know that you are loved. Amen

I am sure there will be more questions in the coming days and weeks, and we will share as much information with you as we can, but for now, I am thankful that everyone is safe.

With Caritas,

Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA
President

Patch has reached out to local, county, state, and federal authorities for more information on the investigation and will update the story when additional details are made available.