Indiana University: Gunman feared to be on the loose near Bloomington campus

The university says the 'threat is no longer imminent' but urges students to stay vigilant

An entrance to Indiana University in south Indianaopolis (Getty Images)

Police are searching for a woman with a handgun after a security alert at Indiana University in the US.

Those on campus were advised to take shelter and lock their door if possible after an armed individual was spotted near its Bloomington campus in the early hours of Friday morning local time.

Later, through its verified Twitter account, the university said the “threat is no longer imminent” and to resume normal routine but stay vigilant.

At the beginning of the month, a ceremony was held at the University of Texas in Austin to mark the 50th anniversary of a massacre on the university campus.

In what is considered the first mass shooting in the US, student Charles Whitman, who was also a Marine-trained sniper, opened fire from a clocktower on 1 August 1966.

Barack Obama has spoken out against gun laws in the United States.

Just before a gunman entered a cinema in Louisiana killing two people and injuring nine others in July last year, the president told the BBC:

“The United States of America is the one advanced nation on Earth in which we do not have sufficient common sense gun safety laws, even in the face of repeated mass killings.”