Towson University, other colleges receive bomb threats Tuesday morning

By Sarah Sternhagen, Editor-in-Chief and Zachary Bandler, Contributing Writer

Towson University was emailed a bomb threat for the University Union shortly before 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30. Safety officials called an “all clear” right before 1 p.m. and re-opened the union.

Several other colleges including Morgan State University also received bomb threats that morning. Allied agencies like the Baltimore County Police Department informed Towson that the threats were connected, according to Vice President of University Marketing and Communications Sean Welsh.

Emergency emails and texts were sent out after Towson received the threat around 11:30 a.m. Emergency alerts instructed people to stay 500 feet away from the union; the Union Garage was also closed to all traffic until 12:34 p.m. when vehicles were allowed to exit the garage, according to emergency alerts.

Nearby buildings like Campus Recreation and the Liberal Arts Building remained open during the time. Classes elsewhere on campus were to continue as scheduled, according to the alerts.

Towson’s Office of Public Safety worked with the Baltimore County Police Department to sweep the building, and BCPD also brought K-9 units to look for any explosives.

Emergency responders and Towson staff blocked off access points to the union while the threat was still active. 

Dylan Moriarty, a manager at Snap Custom Pizza, was working when the alerts went off.

“Getting out of the building was pretty simple,” Moriarty said. “A person, I’m assuming a Towson University staff member, kind of went sprinting by and said there’s been a bomb threat, everybody needs to get out immediately.” 

Students and employees gathered outside of the union after being evacuated. First-year Kamryn Nero was in the science complex when she got the alert and said it was surreal.

“I was just like ‘what?’” she said. “But also, not really surprising, cause you know I’ve heard about a lot of colleges getting bomb threats.”

Officials announced the “all clear” right before 1 p.m. and re-opened the union for the rest of the day. 

Roughly two hours the situation had been deemed a false alarm, President Mark Ginsberg said in a university-wide email that Towson will mount a response to the threat.

“While the immediate incident has been addressed and resolved, TU remains vigilant in our commitment to ensure a safe environment for our entire campus community,” Ginsberg said in the statement. “The well-being of our students, faculty and staff is our highest priority—today and every day.”

Lone Star College University Park in Texas, Prairie View A&M University in Texas, Monroe Community College in New York, Alabama A&M University and Delaware State University also received bomb threats that same morning. 

BCPD did not reply to a request for comment on if all the bomb threats were related in time for publication.

Due to technical difficulties with The Towerlight’s website, this article was originally published in the Towerlight Today e-newsletter on Oct. 1, 2025. The article was posted to The Towerlight’s website on Oct. 5, 2025.