FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - The lockdown for both Dillard Elementary and Dillard High School has been lifted after police were unable to confirm reports of a possible armed student on campus.
The schools, located near Northwest 27th Avenue and 11th Street in Fort Lauderdale, were placed on lockdown just after 10 a.m. Monday.
The lockdown was modified to a code yellow before it was completely lifted at around noon after no weapons were found on the campus by police.
Parents could be seen outside of the campus Monday afternoon worrying for their children’s safety.
“It’s scary. Yeah, it’s very scary,” parent Lashonda Presley said. “I’m a mom. I want to see her, touch her and know she’s OK.”
Parent Shakira McFadden said, “I’m not moving until I know that my kids are OK.”
Fort Lauderdale Police officials said they received a call that a student had a gun in his waistband and was showing it to other students.
“We searched the entire school. No weapons were found, no injuries, no other student claimed to see a gun,” said Fort Lauderdale Detective Traci Figone. “No one else matched the description that was given on the 911 call.”
7 SkyForce HD hovered over the schools where a heavy police presence could be seen outside.
Monday’s scare comes two weeks after a 12-year-old student brought a BB gun to Dillard Middle School and tried to shoot a faculty member.
That student will not be allowed to return to the school.
#FLPD #UPDATE Officers were unable to confirm the reports. No weapons were located. FLPD is clearing the scene at this time. https://t.co/wuxcYOD2xS
— Fort Lauderdale Police (@ftlauderdalepd) March 11, 2019
“The principal came on frantically saying, ‘We are now in a code red. This is not a drill,'” one student said.
Another student said he and other classmates had to move into a corner away from the windows and doors. He also said his teacher closed the windows and covered up the door.
“We had to lock ourselves in. We had to use an extension cord and tie it around the door and stuff,” a student recalled.
Parents made their way to the school to pick up their children hours before dismissal.
“I said, ‘Put stuff up against the door,’ and she said, ‘Mom, we barricaded the door.’ They found wire and something and locked the doors inside because it wasn’t locked from the outside,” Presley said.
“He sent a text saying, ‘They got guns and everything’ and that he was scared, and they’ve been on the ground almost an hour now,” McFadden said.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue crews made one transport unrelated to the incident after a student suffered an asthma attack.
Police are investigating the emergency call to authorities and are determining if there was any weight behind it.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.