The Kansas University Office of Public Safety responded to a call about a man carrying a weapon Thursday evening in Ellsworth Hall.

It turned out to be an ROTC student who was carrying his plastic parade rifle into his residence, said Sgt. Robert Linzer with the KU police.

Todd Cohen, KU spokesman, said that shortly before 10 p.m. a university employee saw a man carrying a rifle going into McCollum Hall and called 911.

Three students in front of the hall confirmed the sighting when KU police arrived, Cohen said.

“Fortunately, police were able to quickly determine with the help of residence hall staff that it was an ROTC student,” Cohen said. “They were operating under the assumption he was moving back in and carrying his plastic rifle back in. Clearly it’s not a smart thing in this day and age to carry a gun of any size into a building.”

He said the situation didn’t reach the point where the university needed to enact its crisis response system. The Lawrence Police Department assisted KU police.