An initial police review of surveillance tapes taken Friday night at Penn Tower showed no evidence of an incident in which a student told police a man held a gun to his head.

After Associated Realty Property Managment security reviewed the tape and reported no unusual activity, State College Police Officer David White also watched the video and "did not see any activity corroborating with the victim's story," Sgt. Mark Argiro said.

The student told police that a man holding a gun backed him into an elevator on the ground floor of Penn Tower, 255 E. Beaver Ave., Friday night. The student, whose name is being withheld by police, reported that he had been arguing with a man on the street from one of Penn Tower's balconies, at which point he was asked to leave the apartment.

The student told police he took the elevator to ground floor with the intention of leaving the building. When he exited the elevator, he said, the man he was arguing with came toward him, backed him into the elevator and held him at gunpoint.

Argiro said that depending on the location of the building's security camera and quality of the footage, it may be difficult to identify the victim and determine whether the incident happened.

"Obviously there are a whole lot of people going in and out of the building [during the footage]," Argiro said.

Although initial reviews of the footage were inconclusive, Argiro said State College Police Cpl. Matthew Wilson, who spoke with the student the night of the alleged incident, still has not reviewed the tape.

Argiro said it is important for Wilson to review the tapes because he may be able to recognize the student coming in and out of the elevator and determine if the incident actually occurred.

White could not be reached for comment yesterday and Wilson, who works the night shift, was not available for comment at press time yesterday. Argiro said Wilson would review the tapes sometime this week.

Associated Realty property manager Kris Holzwarth said since her company's security already reviewed the tape and found no evidence of the incident, she was not surprised the police didn't see anything either.

"It doesn't appear [that the incident occurred]," Holzwarth said.