A campus lockdown was lifted early Friday at Ferrum College in southwest Virginia after two attempted robberies, including one in which students reported seeing a gun, authorities said.

The first robbery was reported outside the Riddick Hall dormitory, Ferrum College spokeswoman Kim Blair told NBC station WSLS-10 in Roanoke. The second attempted robbery occurred at gunpoint near a soccer field, she said.

The first campus-wide alert was issued at 10:22 p.m. ET and was followed by two others.

“Person with a gun. Stay inside / lock doors. Lockdown in progress,” the third alert, issued at 11:12 p.m. ET, said.

The lockdown was lifted at 6 a.m. ET Friday, an official with campus police told NBC News on condition his name not be used.

The suspected gunman had not been located and the investigation was ongoing, he said. Campus security was in charge of the investigation, he added.

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Ferrum College is located in Ferrum, a town in the Blue Ridge Mountains, about 35 miles southwest of Roanoke.

In 2007, a student gunman killed 32 people and himself at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, about 50 miles northwest of Ferrum.

After that incident, many universities began employing an alert system using college websites and text messages to warn students of dangers.

WSLS-10’s Morgan Donnelly contributed to this report.

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