CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Police are searching for the gunmen who fired on a man outside a Harvard University dorm Monday afternoon and then fled, leaving a nervous campus in his wake in the midst of finals week.

"I heard three gunshots, but I don't know much about it because I was on the top floor and was not going to come out of my room when it happened," said student Kathleen Breeden.

Officers said the unidentified 20-year-old male was shot in the abdomen before 5 p.m. and taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He was reported in stable condition Tuesday morning. Witnesses described him as a college-aged African-American.

Investigators did not say whether the victim was a dorm resident or student at the university, but the house masterof the co-ed undergraduate dorm told the Harvard Crimson newspaper the victim was not a dorm resident.

Police had the area roped off on Dunster Street and were continuing to look for clues early Tuesday, but students were being allowed back in the area.

Monday night, Harvard president Drew Faust visited students, who were advised to stay indoors in the dining hall or basement. Counseling was also offered and the university issued a statement saying it believed the shooting was an isolated incident.

Students who live in the dorm were told they may be able to negotiate schedules on final exams because of the disruption.