Swatting hoax triggers brief lockdown at University of Oregon rec center

A blocked call to the University of Oregon Student Recreation Center briefly shut down one of campus’s busiest indoor spaces before police cleared the building and said the threat was unfounded.

University staff at the rec center, 1320 E. 15th Ave. in Eugene, received the call around 11:10 a.m. Wednesday. The caller threatened a shooting, then hung up. University of Oregon Police Department officers were dispatched immediately, interviewed staff and swept both the inside and outside of the building. Eugene Police also responded as part of the check.

By the time the Division of Safety and Risk Services sent its all-clear alert at 1:50 p.m. on May 6, 2026, officers had determined there was no credible danger. The alert said UOPD had assessed the situation and that the threat was unfounded. The brief lockdown ended without any sign of violence, but not before students, staff and first responders had spent hours dealing with a manufactured emergency.

Officials described the call as a swatting incident, the kind of hoax designed to trigger a large police response. In this case, investigators found no useful details in the call and no evidence on the ground that matched the threat. Even so, officers remained on scene for a prolonged period as a precaution, a reminder that campus security treats anonymous threats as real until they are proven false.

The disruption landed at a major campus hub. The Student Recreation Center has served students since 1999, and a 2015 expansion added 110,000 square feet of new space. For a building that anchors daily student life, even a short lockdown can ripple across workouts, classes, work shifts and the sense of routine that keeps the campus moving.

The episode also carries a wider warning for Lane County readers. Under Oregon law, improper use of the emergency communications system is a Class A misdemeanor. The Federal Bureau of Investigation warned in 2025 that swatting can target schools, hospitals, places of worship and transportation centers, and it can create real risk even when no weapon or attacker is present. In a scare like this, the first alert matters, but so does the all-clear: it is the signal that police have checked the building and normal operations can resume.