A man with a college ROTC program caused concern Thursday afternoon at the University of Maryland when two students spotted him putting a long gun in a car, campus police said.
Police alerted students shortly before 2:30 p.m. that a person armed with an AR-15 was reported at Ritchie Coliseum on Route 1 in College Park.
About 20 minutes later, police announced there was no threat.
ROTC groups routinely drill at the arena, and the man was part of one group, said Maj. Marc Limansky, spokesman for the University of Maryland Police. He said the man was an off-duty service member and permitted to carry the rifle.
Police said they had called a meeting with military commanders "to discuss this incident and to make sure this can never happen again."