Here is everything we know after police officers armed with guns were seen searching the University of Essex.

Firearms officers from Essex Police were called to the Wivenhoe campus, in Colchester, shortly after 7.30pm last Thursday.

It is said they had been looking for a man suspected of having access to dangerous weapons.

The force then received reports from campus security guards about a man believed to match the description of a person wanted by police.

Shortly after arriving at the scene the armed officers, accompanied by security staff, attempted to track down the suspect.

But they established a person they spoke to was the wrong person. 

A spokeswoman for Essex Police said: "We were called at around 7.40pm on Thursday 21 January following a report of a man present at the University of Essex campus at Colchester, who was believed to match the description of a person wanted by police.

"Firearms officers attended the location, as the wanted man was believed to have access to firearms.

"We were called by members of security staff from the University of Essex and were accompanied by them throughout.

"We spoke to the man present and confirmed his identity, establishing that he was not the person we were looking for.

"We appreciate that being approached by police can be an unnerving experience and we’d like to thank everyone at the scene for answering our questions so that we could conclude our enquiries.

"We spoke to the man present and confirmed he was not the person we were looking for.

"We appreciate that being approached by police can be an unnerving experience.

"We would like to thank everyone at the scene for answering our questions so we could conclude our enquiries."

Gazette:

Since then, the man who was incorrectly identified as being the suspect, has accused the police force and the university of racial profiling.

Speaking anonymously, the international student, who studies at the university, said: “I was sitting at my desk in the library reading room when between five and six police officers approached me, two of which had visible guns.

“They approached me in a passive-aggressive manner and asked me for my ID without any pre-warning or reason as to why I was approached.

“I gave over my ID and then they walked away, but they did not apologise for the way they endangered my life

“Their description of the suspected individual was black, six-feet tall, athletic build, with dreadlocked hair.

“My hair is far from dreadlocks and I’m not that tall.”

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Essex University has described the incident as "totally unacceptable." 

Registrar Bryn Morris from Essex University said: “It is totally unacceptable that one of our students experienced this incident.

"In response we have commissioned a review to discover what happened and how it occurred. We have also taken every action we can to try and support the people involved.

“Our commitment to equality and diversity is central to what we stand for and who we are. We are proud that we are the third most culturally diverse University in the UK.

"Our inclusive and diverse community are at the heart of what makes us Essex and a safe home for our students. We will do everything we can to ensure that this never happens again on one of our campuses.”