Students were placed under lockdown at Goshen College on Saturday after the Goshen Police department received a report of a possible bomb threat on campus, prompting officers to search the college. Officials later determined the threat was not credible.

At 2:16 p.m., campus safety sent a notification stating that campus was on lockdown and that everyone should shelter in place. The alert also said, “Police do not believe this is an immediate threat.”

Jeremy Corson, resident director for AVI Fresh at the college, had arrived on campus Saturday morning when he was approached by an officer who asked if he worked there. Corson directed the officer to the campus safety office.

Kris RappAfoose, the director of campus safety and security, said the college was informed that the caller reported a bomb somewhere on campus.

As officers arrived at GC, they began searching buildings and residence halls while campus safety and student life worked with law enforcement to determine whether there was an ongoing threat.

Chandler Buchfeller, the associate dean of students, was helping students prepare for the student engagement fair on the Kratz-Miller-Yoder lawn when he learned about the situation from an officer.

“The officer who I spoke with, he and his colleagues were trying to locate somebody from campus safety at that time,” he said. “They came to campus in an effort to get in touch with campus safety and start sweeping campus and ascertaining whether or not there was a present threat at that point.”

Buchfeller, along with RappAfoose, other campus safety officers and law enforcement, checked buildings and residence halls across campus.

“Just in an effort to ensure that there was nothing, there were no ongoing threats or anything to be concerned about before the lockdown was released,” Buchfeller said.

While the internal search was underway, law enforcement officers were also sweeping the exterior areas of campus.

At the time, Chad Coleman, the associate athletic director, was at a soccer game on campus that was minutes away from starting. He had direct contact with officers who were positioned near the southeast entrance, closer to the field. 

Coleman said police told him the call included gunshots in the background. “But, no one had heard any actual shots on campus,” Coleman said.

RappAfoose also contacted Coleman, who spoke with Dwight Gingerich, the athletic director and men’s basketball coach, and the police department. The decision was made to allow the soccer game to continue.

“The players and coaches were just like, ‘Okay, whatever.’ There was no pushback,” Coleman said.

Buchfeller said he spoke with Warren O’Neill, a police lieutenant, at about 2:20 p.m., just minutes after the lockdown notification was sent. “At that point, Lt. O’Neill was the one who shared with me that they believed that it was likely a swatting call,” he said.

Swatting is a form of criminal harassment that involves deceiving emergency services into sending a police team to another person’s location.

“The police told me sometimes it’s a diversion. Like, a real crime is taking place somewhere else in town,” Coleman said.

After Buchfeller, RappAfoose, campus safety officers and law enforcement completed their sweep of campus, they reported to Gilberto Perez Jr., the dean of students, and the decision was made to lift the lockdown.

At 3:14 p.m., about an hour after the lockdown began, the college sent an all-clear notification.

“They did not believe the threat to be real, but came to campus and searched thoroughly while we issued a soft lockdown. At this time we’re issuing the all clear to resume activities, and we thank GPD for their service.” RappAfoose said.

“I was thoroughly impressed with law enforcement’s response. They were quick and thorough in terms of getting to campus and then getting across campus rather quickly when they first arrived,” Buchfeller said.

RappAfoose also clarified that the decision to place the campus under lockdown came from police. “That decision was theirs, not the college’s.” 

“We worked well with the GPD officers who responded to campus. Everyone involved (GPD and student life) did their due diligence to confirm there was no device on campus, and no one treated the threat as anything less than real until we knew for certain,” RappAfoose said.