Police in St. John's apprehended a young man at Memorial University on Tuesday afternoon, a few hours after a pellet gun was dropped in a student cafeteria.

University security found the 20-year-old while Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officers were scouring the main campus. He was taken into custody around 4 p.m. when he showed up at the cafeteria in the engineering building.

A Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer apprehends a 20-year-old Memorial University student Tuesday in the engineering cafeteria.
(CBC)

At about 1:45 p.m., a man was seen dropping a pellet gun in the same cafeteria. The man was described as wearing a black, knee-length trench coat.

"After dropping the gun on the floor, he retrieved it and said, 'It's my pellet gun' and walked off," the university said in a statement issued shortly after the incident.

When the man was being taken into custody later in the day, he told CBC News: "It was for a school project."

He referred investigators to his professor in the engineering faculty and did not elaborate on what the project entailed.

Const. Paul Davis said no charges had been laid as of late Tuesday afternoon, but the investigation was continuing.

The university has asked students and staff to report any information they have on the incident.