HALLANDALE BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - According to Hallandale Beach Police, it was a video posted on Snapchat that forced a code-red lockdown on Hallandale High School, in Hallandale Beach, which delayed early release for students, Thursday.
“Our [school resource officer] became aware of a posting to Snapchat which showed a student at Hallandale High taking a picture of him with a magazine — a loaded magazine — inside of the school’s gym during a pep rally,” said Hallandale Beach Police Department Chief Dwayne Flournoy.
That video, police said, featured a loaded 9mm magazine, though no gun was seen on the video.
Another student saw the post and reported it to the administration, and Hallandale Beach Police responded to the school, located at 720 N.W. 9th Avenue, ordering the lockdown at 11:45 a.m.
Students would normally have been released at noon, but per the code red lockdown protocols, students and teachers had to remain inside their classrooms until it was lifted. This happened at around 1:30 p.m.
Police scoured the gym for several hours in search of the loaded magazine depicted in the Snapchat video, as well as the firearm it may have been associated with. Police even went so far as to search through every single bag belonging to the students and faculty inside of the gym.
“He was showing it off and one of the students had told staff what happened, and that’s when they had to lock down the school, and they had to search everybody,” said student Jason Hardwick.
Police also interviewed the 10th grader who posted the original video. Police said he is about 14 to 15 years old.
Despite their efforts, neither a gun nor the magazine were located anywhere on the campus, causing immense concern to Hallandale Beach Police, school officials, and of course, parents.
“It’s very concerning in light of we did not recover it,” said Hallandale Beach Police Department Chief Dwayne Flournoy. “We believe that it is associated with a firearm, so we have a firearm that is either here on campus, that we did not locate, or a firearm in possession of a youth.”
“That’s just crazy how you can’t go to school nowadays without anybody pulling violence,” said one student.
Students on Twitter were posting that the school was locked down on a code-red before the official announcement.
Parents were already on the scene when the lockdown was announced due to the early release day.
Parents and carpools had to wait in the dismissal line outside of the school until the lockdown was lifted.
“Very scary,” said parent Jason Patryluk. “Our daughter’s been, thankfully, letting us know that everybody’s OK in the school.”
Hallandale Beach Police continue investigating, and no one has been charged at this point. Police continue to question the teenager.
Police also continue to search for the magazine and the gun it may belong to.
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