NATCHEZ, Miss. (AP) - An alligator caused a stir by meandering onto the campus of a nursing school in Mississippi.

The Natchez Democrat reports that the 9-foot (2.7-meter) gator appeared Thursday on the Alcorn State University satellite campus in Natchez. A campus security officer, Lt. Kevin King, says he was out for a walk when he noticed the reptile lying in the shade under a bush.

He called state wildlife officers. They wrangled the alligator into the back of a pickup truck, but only after it thrashed around and hissed at them. People watched from a distance and snapped photos on their phones.

Natchez is by the Mississippi River, and alligators are common in the area. In 2017, a group of hunters caught a gator that was just over 14 feet (4.3 meters) long.