CEDAR FALLS - A cheering group of Dancer and Bender hall students were let back in their dorm at 7:53 p.m. after authorities gave the all-clear sign on a threat of gunman on his way to the campus.

The man who made the threats, a male who was reportedly not a UNI student, was arrested this evening in the Des Moines area, school officials said.

It ended a tense nearly two hours of lockdown on the campus after a male reportedly made threatening text messages to a coed on the University of Northern Iowa campus.

All campus dormitories were locked down, but the area of greatest concern to officials was the Dancer Hall-Bender Hall complex off 23rd Street. The female student who received the threats was a resident of Dancer.

As a result, the UNI campus issued its first-ever UNI Alert to the entire campus, locked down Dancer Hall and have asked people to stay away from the Dancer-Bender hall complex.

The latest information to the alert is the authorities did not believe there iwas an imminent threat, but locked down Dancer and all other residence halls as a precaution.

"It was a threat against a female student in Dancer Hall. The response was to lock down Dancer Hall and sweep Dancer Hall, said Jim O'Connor, UNI interim assistant vice president for marketing and public relations.

O'Connor said the female was not in Dancer Hall when the threats were made, but she lives there. She was with her resident assistant at the time of the threat. The resident assistant called UNI police immediately.

"At this point we are in prevention mode, making sure the young woman is safe. We're making sure the campus is safe," he said.

The alert, posted on the school's Web site, states that there is a threat of a weapon on campus. Dancer Hall has been locked down.

A UNI Alert is a new system just actived by the campus. It provides for a multi-media alert system to the voicemail, e-mail and text messages of students and staff.

All entrances to Dancer Hall are being protected by members of the Cedar Falls Police Department and UNI PUblic Safety. No one is allowed to go in or out. The Iowa State Patrol is also involved.

"She was receiving text messages from him. It was implied that he would have a weapon," O'Connor said. "Police felt it was a credible threat, so we sent out a message on the alert system."

Sophomore Tara Pickart has been stuck in a room on the 12th floor of Dancer Hall since 5:20 p.m.

"At 5:20 there was a loudspeaker announcement from the life coordinator who said this is not a drill, get in your room, lock your door, turn off your lights and stay away from windows and doors," Pickart said.

Thirty minutes later, another loudspeaker announcement told students to remain in their room and not leave for any reason, including night classes, Pickart said.

Pickart has seen police on her floor when she went to lock her door room before heading to a friend's room through the lockdown.

She said "I'm on the 12th floor and it's scary being this far up and not having a way out. We are getting calls from across the state asking 'Are you OK?"

She said she has received two text messages and two voice mails from the UNI Alert system. But neither came until after the second loudspeaker announcement.

"I keep peeking outside and see more cop cars coming. I don't know what is going on down there," she said.

Another Dancer resident, Rob Krapfl, was eating dinner in the Commons area between Dancer and Bender halls when he received the text message about the alert. He and several other students were milling about the Commons area because they couldn't get back in their dorm.

"We're just waiting," he said. Students appeared calm.

Students in classrooms are texting other students that they are also in lockdown in their classrooms.They are saying they have been told to be quiet and turn off the lights in the classrooms.

This is the first time the alert system has been used. It was just instituted two weeks ago.