Reports of a gunman on the loose left some students and staff confused and shaken Monday afternoon. University officials sent out a series of text messages and phone calls to students alerting them of the potential danger.

After a two-hour search by police, an “all clear” message was sent to students through the SB Alert system.

The suspect has not been found and a current investigation is still in progress.

A Faculty Student Association (FSA) employee in the Student Activities Center cafeteria approached the individual, who police describe as a 5′ 9” male between 25 and 28 years of age with a tattoo on his right hand, after it was determined that he was trying to steal food.

President Shirley Strum Kenny told reporters in a press conference “at that point, the perpetrator showed what appeared to be a gun,” Kenny said. However, in the latest update from President Kenny, “the initial report given to our University Police by an individual working in the SAC Dining Hall was not accurate [and] after a thorough investigation by our University Police and the Suffolk County Police, a number of inconsistencies were found in this report.”

Eyewitnesses reported seeing the suspect fleeing the Student Activities Center (SAC) and run towards the back of Harriman Hall between the Old Chemistry and Chemistry buildings at around 1:30 pm.

Mario S., an exchange student, witnessed the event. He and his friends described the suspect as a black male dressed all in black with a long coat and dark boots with a red-green pizza box in his hands. The security personnel chasing the man yelled, “Stop. I won’t touch you,” Mario S. said.

Assistant Chief of Police Douglas Little said the security guard, who works as a “greeter” for the Faculty Student Association, “backed off and called police.”

Police arrived minutes later.