A hard lockdown at the University of North Texas was lifted after a report of a man possibly armed with a rifle in the campus' Health Science Center proved to be only camera equipment, a university official said Wednesday.

At a campus news conference, Chief Operating Officer at the University of North Texas (UNT) Health Science Center at Fort Worth, Ruth Roman, said, "All is safe."

UNT Hard Lockdown
Members of the Fort Worth Police Department and other emergency personnel respond to a report of a potential threat at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Denton, Texas on Wednesday, November 16, 2022. Madeleine Cook/Fort Worth Star Telegram

The health science center had tweeted that there was potential for violence and required an immediate lockdown.

According to the Forth Worth Star-Telegram, a student placed a 911 call at around 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday and reported the man holding a rifle inside the Interdisciplinary Research and Education building.

Fort Worth Police Officer Buddy Calzada said that at about 2:15 pm, police had found the "person of interest" described by the caller. More than two dozen police units and a SWAT team responded to evacuate students. About 20 minutes later the lockdown was lifted after discovering that the supposed rifle was only camera equipment.

During a press conference Wednesday, Roman commented, "Our job is to ensure the safety of our community. To make sure we respond immediately. To give them the security and the confidence that we are thoroughly investigating and protecting them, and that is what we did today."