STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A deadly struggle between a police officer and an off-duty College of Staten Island employee at the school's Willowbrook campus left the employee dead and sparked a massive police response that rattled the college community and ignited rumors among students and staffers that a shooting had occurred.

According to police sources, an officer with the NYPD's Staten Island Task Force went into a standalone restroom facility by the school's athletic facility to take a bathroom break.

The officer observed a man engaged in some sort of drug activity, according to a source. When the officer approached, a wild struggle ensued. The man grabbed for the officer's gun, and the struggle spilled outside the restroom, where several passers by rushed in to assist the officer, sources said.

As they struggled, the man died, possibly of cardiac arrest or after falling to the ground, sources said. He was taken to Richmond University Medical Center, West Brighton, where he was pronounced dead, sources say.

School administrators released a brief statement about the incident, identifying the man as an off-duty CSI employee. His name is not yet available, and the incident remains under police investigation.

Here is the school's statement, in its entirety:

For hours after the incident, there was no information from the college about what precisely had happened. During that time, college students and staffers were exchanging rumors via emails and the Internet about a possible shooting.