Hoboken Man Allegedly Displayed Rifle During Dispute That Caused College Lockdown

HOBOKEN, NJ — The Hoboken police said Monday afternoon that they had arrested a man after an incident that morning in which he may have displayed a rifle during a dispute with a construction crew. [UPDATE: The man was charged with assault. See an update from Tuesday here.]

The incident resulted in the Stevens Institute of Technology telling students to "shelter in place" at 9:03 a.m. Monday. They said there was "police activity" at Fifth and Hudson streets, bordering campus.

Police said Monday afternoon that the dispute apparently was regarding what time construction begins.

[RELATED: Hoboken Residents Complain About Delayed Nixle Alert]

"Earlier today our department responded to a dispute on the 500 block of Hudson Street," the police said in a statement Monday. "The dispute involved a resident of that block and a construction crew conducting work on Hudson Street. The dispute was over what time street construction began. During the dispute it was alleged that a rifle was shown. The Hoboken Police Department responded and promptly made the area safe."

The statement continued, "They along with the Hudson County SWAT Team were able to make contact with the suspect who willingly surrendered. The Hoboken Police Department does have one person in custody at this time. Any further information regarding this active investigation will be released when possible."

Construction has been occurring all over Hoboken, including on several parks — but work is not supposed to take place before 8 a.m. unless special permission is granted.

When asked if the man had been charged, police said they could not release that information yet, but would do so later.

"This is still a very active investigation," noted Lt. Jonathan Mecka.

At 9:03 in the morning, Stevens Tweeted for their school community to "shelter in place," and the Hoboken Police Tweeted at 8:57 a.m. for people to avoid the area of Fifth and Hudson streets. The city Tweeted at 9:41 a.m. that police were investigating a "male with a weapon."

The city released a Nixle emergency alert at 10:10 a.m. saying the same.

The Hoboken police said in their statement, "The Hoboken PD would like to thank all our twitter followers who retweeted us during the incident."

EARLIER REPORTING: Hoboken Police Investigate Reports Of Man With Weapon