GREENVILLE, South Carolina (REUTERS) - A Mississippi State University student was arrested on Thursday after his threats to harm himself and others prompted alerts about an active shooter and a lockdown of the campus.

The student was later determined not to have a gun, university president Mark Keenum said at a news conference, even though the university had sent out warnings of an active shooter as soon as campus police learned about a student threatening to kill himself and others.

"Our police department reacted immediately," Keenum said.

Within minutes, campus police took Fhu-Qui Kong "Bill" Nguyen, a freshman from Madison, Mississippi, into custody.

Students were told to seek safety and alerts continued for about a half hour.

At one point, the university said there had been no reports of shots fired or any injuries.

The 20,000-student campus in Starkville was then cleared to resume normal afternoon activities.

It was not immediately known what charges Nguyen faced.