College is closed after gun sighting

A small private college lifted a campus lockdown after police spent hours searching without success for a man who was seen with a gun in a residence hall, school officials said.

Classes at Ferrum College were canceled for the rest of the week, and students were told they could leave early for spring break, which was to have begun after classes Friday, school spokeswoman Natalie Faunce said.

College President Jennifer Braaten had activated an alert system and ordered the school in Ferrum locked down after a member of the housekeeping staff reported seeing a young man walk into a residence hall with a handgun, Franklin County Sheriff Ewell Hunt said at a news conference.