CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – A technical glitch delayed a mass e-mail to alert the University of New Hampshire to a reported gun incident on the Durham campus Sunday night, the university said Tuesday.

The alert should have gone out Monday evening, when campus police say they learned how serious the incident was, but wasn’t transmitted until 8:22 a.m. Tuesday, the university and university police said.

UNH uses its “blast” e-mail system regularly, but, “for some reason, I don’t know the cause yet, it didn’t work last night,” university spokeswoman Kim Billings said Tuesday.

The incident happened outside a dining hall about 10 p.m. Sunday. Three women students told campus police they saw a “male who took a large object off his back and went into the bushes,” Deputy Chief Paul Dean said.

He said four officers responded and searched the area, finding nothing, and the dispatcher interviewed the students. Monday afternoon, prompted by a resident adviser in a dormitory, the students spoke again with the police and said they believed the object was a rifle and the man had pointed it in their direction, Dean said.

Police posted an alert on their Web site and relayed the information to administrators. Billings said a blast e-mail should have gone promptly to all students, faculty and staff, but did not because of a “technical error” that was being investigated.

Dean said police increased high visibility patrols around the Philbrook dining hall and were seeking witnesses and tips. The three students, who were together, live in a dorm or dorms around the hall; Dean said police were not releasing their names or statements.

Asked if he believes there actually was a gun, Dean said the women were terrified and ran from the scene.

“We certainly support these women and they say they saw a gun – they saw a gun,” he said.

Dean said the time lag between the two reports and the Thanksgiving exodus from campus made the investigation difficult.

“We’re doing our best to unravel this,” he said.

Only sworn police officers can carry guns on campus, but hunting is authorized on rural UNH property, not only in neighboring towns but in outlying parts of Durham. Dean said hunters in the UNH community are allowed to check weapons with his department, and some do so almost daily during deer season, which began last week.

The man involved in Sunday’s incident was described as in his 40s, wearing a black jacket and khaki pants. The description at least partially matches that of a prowler – dubbed the “creeper” and the “salt and pepper man” for his hair color – who has appeared without warning in places including dormitory bathrooms recently.

Dean said numerous leads on those incidents led police to a homeless man whom they considered a “person of interest.” No prowler incidents have been reported since police interviewed the man, though that doesn’t prove he was responsible, Dean said.

The incidents, and school shootings including the slaughter at Virginia Tech in April, have helped raise awareness of security campuswide, Dean said. He said students and staff should be vigilant and call his department about anything suspicious, even something minor.

“Let us determine whether it turns out to be nothing,” he said. “That’s our job.”

AP-ES-11-20-07 1354EST