The campus at the University of Texas at Arlington was closed and classes were canceled Wednesday morning due to reports of an armed man headed toward the school.
Dallas police said the incident began when a former UTA student threatened to harm himself with a semi-automatic gun. UTA spokeswoman Kristin Sullivan says the student was last enrolled in 2008 with an undeclared major.
DPD officials said the man barricaded himself in an apartment. While officers searched for the man, police notified UTA officials about the search. Based on that report, UTA took security actions.
"UT Arlington takes these kind of threats very seriously which is why we closed the campus this morning and canceled classes until further notification," Sullivan said.
A UTA emergency alert shortly before 4:30 a.m. Wednesday indicated the campus was closed. Classes and other events were canceled as well.
"There is no imminent threat, however, as a precaution, we're going to make sure the campus is absolutely secure and safe. That's the most important thing," Sullivan said.
At 7:30 a.m., a message posted to the MavAlert Emergency Notifications page on the UTA web site stated the following:
"The UT Arlington campus is closed, and classes, events and summer camps are canceled until further notice as police continue to investigate a report of a man traveling to campus with a gun. Anyone on campus should remain inside. No one should travel to campus."
An alert sent on the MavAlert Emergency Notifications page on the UTA web site stated the campus was reopened around 9:29 a.m. and scheduled events, including classes, would resume at noon.
MAVALERT UPDATE: @utarlington police report threat has passed. Campus reopen; normal class schedules resume at noon. http://t.co/Vjq1jGmdWh
— UT Arlington (@utarlington) June 19, 2013
Additionally, the school has asked for all employees to report to campus as soon as possible.
Sullivan said several thousand people typically would be on campus for summer classes, camps and other activities. UTA's spring enrollment was nearly 34,000 students.
Early Confusion on Threat Details
The alert began as text posted to the school's web site at 4:28 a.m., which stated the following:
"Unconfirmed report Dallas PD informed UTA PD subj. w/ gun may be en-route to UTA campus. If on campus stay indoors/ off campus stay away until further notice."
UTA police said that Dallas police located the individual they believed was possibly headed to the campus. UTA police said that individual was inside an apartment in Dallas but was refusing to come out.
NBC 5 contacted the Dallas Police Department to confirm this information, but dispatch officers said they were unaware of any barricaded subject. The police department later confirmed the information about a man barricaded inside an apartment during a press conference around 11 a.m.
Previously, the university told NBC 5 they planned to release an "all clear" alert. However, an update at 6:17 a.m. stated the following:
"Police continue to investigate unconfirmed reports of a man suspected of traveling to campus with a gun. Stay away from campus or remain indoors until further notified."
NBC 5 's Keaton Fox and Jeff Smith contributed to this report.
Photo Credit: NBC 5