ATHENS, OH (WCMH) — A terroristic threat on Ohio University’s campus on Monday caused dozens of police officers to surround a dining hall and take a suspect into custody.

Curtis Embrey worked at Nelson Dining Hall. According to Ohio University police, a few hours before his shift, Embrey texted his coworker threatening messages that he was going to take down himself and other employees here.

OU student Randy Swoope first heard about the incident through email.

“I was really surprised to hear about it because you normally come to school thinking it’s all safe and then you hear about things like that it’s really scary,” said Swoope.

“It caught me off guard and shocked me that something like this could happen,” said Kevin Hruska.

Captain George Harlow of Ohio University Police says an employee at the hall received the text from Curtis Embrey before noon on Monday and went to police immediately.

“We responded quickly sending officers to that dining hall just to secure it and our detectives began working on identifying the suspect,” said Harlow.

Captain Harlow said officers along with the local major crimes task force and deputies went on a search for Embrey near his Rutland, Ohio home to try to intercept before he was scheduled to come to work.

“OUPD officers located him on campus. He was still on his way to work. He was stopped while still in his vehicle and taken into custody without incident,” said Captain Harlow.

Police say Embrey is banned from campus and charged with making terroristic threats, a third-degree felony. Police say they did not find any weapons with Embrey. They point out how important it is for someone to come forward when they hear or spot something suspicious.

“As a result of this, this was actually a very good example of when someone sees something that they receive is threatening that they say something. And the fact that this person came forward quickly enabled us to get all bring all our resources to bear to track down and arrest this gentleman before he was able to carry out anything that he had threatened to do,” said Captain Harlow.

Chris Embrey is at the southeast Ohio regional jail. Police say his bond is set at 50,000 and his next court date is scheduled for November 13.