New York: A young man has been arrested for making "terroristic threats" on a social media app, a day after students at a United States  university received anonymous messages telling them "don't go to campus tomorrow" and that the perpetrator would "shoot every black person I see".

The University of Missouri, which has attracted international attention this week after students protested about racism on campus and forced the resignation of senior university officials, was the target of the violent and racist threats on the social media app, Yik Yak.

The Missouri University Police Department announced on Wednesday they had arrested 19-year-old white student Hunter Park, who goes to a different university, for making threats.

"The suspect is in MUPD custody and was not located on or near the MU campus at the time of the threat," police said in a statement.

The posts had caused significant alarm on the campus, and came after a spate of mass shootings on university campuses in the US, and the massacre of a group of black parishioners at a church in South Carolina by a young white supremacist this year.

The posts included "Some of you are alright. Don't go to campus tomorrow", "We're waiting for you at the parking lots. We will kill you" and "I'm going to stand my ground tomorrow and shoot every black person I see".

Copy of the threat Photo: Supplied

Police have not confirmed if Mr Park was behind all the threats or if others may also be involved, but confirmed he has been arrested for "making terroristic threats" following complaints about the Yik Yak posts.

Mr Park is a student at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. The chancellor of his college, Cheryl Schrader, confirmed they had co-operated in his arrest after being contacted by police and said "threats of violence of any kind are not tolerated".

Police arrested Mr Park about 1.50am on Wednesday at a residence hall on his own campus and reportedly did not find any weapons.

Yik Yak, a location-based app that operates like an online message board, allows users to post comments without using real names or screen names. It is hugely popular on US uni campuses and schools as it allows students to post thoughts and jokes to each other, ostensibly with anonymity.

But it has been used a number of times to post violent threats, leading to arrests. While the app does not comment on specific cases publicly, a spokeswoman told Fairfax Media they do co-operate with law enforcement on investigations.

"We may provide information without a subpoena, warrant or court order when a post poses a risk of imminent harm," she said.

In a blog post, the app's co-founder, Brooks Buffington, denounced the threats, saying they were both "upsetting and completely unacceptable".

"Let's not waste any words here: This sort of misbehaviour is NOT what Yik Yak is to be used for. Period."

The threats were posted after days of upheaval had thrust the university – often referred to as Mizzou – into the international spotlight.

The controversy began after students protested that the administration wasn't taking complaints of racial abuse on campus seriously enough, and the school's football team threatened to boycott upcoming games. Incidents included a swastika painted in faeces on a wall at the university, and black students being called racial slurs.

Even faculty members at the campus had spoken out about experiencing racism – Cynthia Frisby, an associate professor, said she had been called the N-word by another faculty member, and had it yelled at her from a car emblazoned with the Confederate flag this year.

In the wake of escalating protests, the university's president and chancellor both resigned, but protests had continued at the university, while attempts by some students to keep the media away had attracted further attention and controversy.

Missouri has been at the centre of national debate about racism and violence in the US for more than a year, after the shooting of an unarmed black man named Michael Brown by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014, sparked huge protests.

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