Armed police have rushed to the student quarter in Dunedin after someone was seen brandishing what appeared to be a gun.
A police spokeswoman said they arrived on Reigo St at 3.08pm after the report.
The person who reported the incident said a person had brandished what appeared to be a gun and asked them whether they though it was real.
Police were in the process of accessing CCTV footage to examine the incident.
Otago Polytechnic's Dunedin School of Art had been evacuated and police officers, some of whom were armed, were taking statements from people outside.