Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont., has reopened after being on lockdown for nearly six hours due to an “online threat made against the university,” officials said.

All students and staff were asked to stay away from the campus as police investigated. Classes and meetings were also cancelled.

The lockdown was lifted at approximately 11:30 a.m.

Threat contained “similar verbiage” to posts about Oregon shooting

The nature of the threat is not immediately clear, but Waterloo police superintendent Pat Dietrich said it contained “similar verbiage” to online threats on the same website ahead of the shooting at the Umpqua Community College in Oregon that killed 9 on earlier this month.

“It was something we understand was previously used on a school-related…incident in the State and that elevated concerns,” Dietrich said. “It was the shooting in Oregon.”

The threat “was picked up by a variety of police forces and passed on to the Waterloo Regional Police,” Crowley said.

The university’s Special Constable received a tip about the threat from Waterloo police at approximately 3 a.m. on Friday. The university was placed on lockdown at 6 a.m.

Crowley said the threat was centred at the Science Building at University and Bricker Avenues. The building was empty when the university was placed on lockdown and no injuries have been reported, Crowley said.

Suspect may not be a local

Dietrich also said the person who posted the threat online may not be in the Waterloo area, or even in the country.

As a result, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the RCMP are also involved in the investigation, Dietrich said.

“These are very complicated investigations, locating IP addresses and the ways you can mask them is something that is very complex,” Dietrich told reporters.

The suspect, he said, could face public mischief charges.

The university is in its reading week and campus is not as crowded as usual.

All students, faculty and staff were notified about the lockdown by email and on social media, Crowley said.

Representatives from the university will provide updated information via legacy.wlu.ca as it becomes available.

The nearby University of Waterloo remained open during the lockdown, but officials said they were monitoring the situation at Wilfrid Laurier University closely.

With files from CTV Kitchener