Police arrest student after false hostage call at Valparaiso University

Police in Porter County have arrested a student who admitted he called police Tuesday night saying he had a gun and was holding hostages in an on-campus library.

ABC7 in Chicago says Michael Clemens was arrested. He is now facing two felony counts.

It all began Tuesday night around 8:35 EST. After the call, police were at the Christopher Center for Library and Information Services on campus and asked students, faculty, and staff to stay clear of the area while a sweep was conducted.  

Law enforcement from around the area were dispatched to campus and the library was sealed. Later, a campus-wide alert was sent out for students to shelter in place. A police search didn't find anything out of the ordinary on campus.

Valparaiso resident,  John Tansky, says he appreciated the quick response from law enforcement agencies that helped diffuse the situation quickly.

"Anything that has to do with a shooting nowadays is not a light subject and it's something that's really scary nowadays," Tansky said.

The shelter-in-place order was lifted just before 11 p.m.