By Chinelo Onwualu

National-World Editor

A recent graduate of Fairfield University, Connecticut, took over a class of 23 but released them a few hours later Tuesday afternoon. The still-unidentified suspect held the group hostage by claiming he had a bomb.

The student walked in during a religious studies class in Canisius Hall, which houses both administrative offices and classrooms. Five students were released unharmed soon after the situation began. The others were released over a period of several hours.

Police Officer Mark Fracassini told the Associated Press that they were not certain that the threat was ``credible'' when they were first called in at around 4 p.m. However, Police Sgt. Gene Palazzolo assured CNN reporters that ``all are fine but shaken,'' though the suspect ``obviously had an agenda.''

According to WCBS-TV, a station in New York, the suspect ordered one of the hostages to call and read a statement over the air. However, the station's spokeswoman Karen Mateo said the message as ``rambling and anti-Semitic,'' and was not broadcast.

The class ``Voices of Medieval Women,'' is taught by Elizabeth Dryer, a religious studies professor.

``She is a wonderful, self-possessed and inspiring teacher and scholar,'' said her husband to BBC reporters, ``she'll bring calmness to the situation.''

Doug Whiting, vice president for the university's public relations described Dryer as ``an extremely distinguished, level-headed member of our faculty.''

The suspect was described as visually impaired, often seen walking with a guide dog.

The school, located 60 miles northeast of New York City, is a Catholic institution founded in 1942 with about 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

During the course of the crisis the rest of the building, two adjacent buildings and one residence hall were evacuated. Evening classes were cancelled and some students were holding a prayer service in one of the residence halls.

Fairfield Mayor Ken Flatto said that things were ``very calm'' on the campus though it was reported that many were trying to find out if friends were being held. ``[the suspect] has been communicating with our emergency response team, and we're hopeful that he will end up helping us here by having a peaceful resolution.''