Canadian police have arrested a man after a professor and two students were stabbed during a class on gender issues at the University of Waterloo, Canada.

According to media reports, the police said the wounds suffered by the victims were not life-threatening in the incident that happened on Wednesday.

“There is no further threat to public safety either on campus or outside in the broader community at this time,” Shaena Morris of the Waterloo regional police service said at a news conference.

Nick Manning, associate vice president of communications for the University of Waterloo, identified the suspect as a member of “the university community”.

He, however, declined to confirm if the individual was a student, according to the Guardian UK.

Manning said the stabbing occurred in Philosophy 202, which focuses on “gender issues” according to the university website.

A website description of the course said it “will examine the construction of gender in the history of philosophy through contemporary discussions. What is gender? How do we ‘do’ gender? How can we ‘undo’ gender – and do we want to?”

“Our entire community is really concerned that this would happen here. It’s a big shock,” Manning told reporters.

Police have said that the attacker’s motives were unclear, but Canada has a history of gender-motivated attacks.