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VANCOUVER - Police have started to allow students and staff to leave the Biological Sciences Building on the University of B.C. campus.

The building has been under a lockdown order for the past hour after a threat was issued. Police said they are releasing people from the building floor by floor.

Around 3:30 p.m. police started to let out small groups of people from the building, among them John Steeves, director of ICORD spinal chord research facility.

"We were just told that somebody had obviously been making some threats about himself or other people in the complex," Steeves said, adding he wasn't told anything else about what was going on.

Jason Tao, a biology student, said he was in a computer lab when he was told the building was locked down.

"The associate dean opened the door and he told us to stay in the building, it's locked down. He said 'Don't open the door for anyone and just stay inside.'"

Tao's classmate, Rita Lo, said students were then told to only open the door if they were given a special password. Both Tao and Lo weren't provided anymore details about the nature of the threat.

Biology teacher Martin Adamson said there is some animal testing done in the building. However, he added, to his knowledge there have never been any threats made in relation to those tests.

Speaking to media shortly after 3 p.m., RCMP Const. Annie Linteau said police were called to the scene in response to a report of a threat to public safety to the Biological Sciences Building.

Linteau said police were taking the threat seriously.

Heavily armed officers, police dogs were called to the scene as a police helicopter hovered overhead.

Initially, the univerity ordered a campus-wide lockdown, telling all students and staff to stay where they were while police investigated the threat. That was quickly lifted, however, with most students and staff told to return to "normal activities" shortly after 3 p.m.