Exeter University: Arrest after students threatened with fake gun
- Published
Police said a weapon seized was "not believed to be a viable firearm"
A man has been arrested after students were threatened with a replica gun at a university.
Armed officers were called to Exeter University at about 11:30 BST to reports of a man "making threats to other students, whilst in possession of a handgun".
Devon and Cornwall Police said a weapon seized was "not believed to be a viable firearm" and no-one had been injured.
A 25-year-old man has been held on suspicion of possession of a firearm.
Student Katie Leadbetter-Hope said about seven officers had "stormed into the Amory building" with a police dog and a man who "looked like he was of student age" was later led outside in handcuffs.
The Amory building is a centre for humanities on the Streatham campus.
Police said officers had recovered a bag containing what appeared to be a metal handgun.
Initial examinations suggest this was a replica or blank-firing handgun which was not loaded, the force said.
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The university said one of its buildings had been closed "for a short period of time" while the incident "was dealt with swiftly and effectively". The campus is now open as normal.
Nathan Anderson, an archaeologist and PhD researcher at the university's Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, tweeted that he was on campus earlier, external.
He said: "Would be nice if there was some sort of campus-wide alert system outside of Twitter", adding he was "glad" the situation "was resolved without violence".
The university responded: "We do have our text alert system when we need to contact all students and staff but this incident was contain[ed] and resolved so quickly, it wasn't needed thankfully."