NORTH MIAMI, FLA. (WSVN) - A lockdown at North Miami Senior High School was lifted after threats of a weapon on campus were deemed not credible, but not before eliciting panic among parents.
Officials at the school, located at 13110 NE 8th Ave., were tipped off about a potential weapons violation and was placed on lockdown as a precaution, Thursday afternoon.
“There was an announcement, and it said, ‘Code red, code red,’ like, ‘Get down, go to the back,’ and the teacher told us to go back,” said a student, “and we all just sat there, like, thinking it was a drill, but then the bell rang, and we were like, ‘Oh, this is actually for real, like, it’s for real.'”
7SkyForce hovered over the scene where police units were seen on the scene at around 3 p.m..
Concerned parents who arrived to pick up their children were informed the campus had been placed on lockdown and their children could not come out.
“My son called me [and said] that they were locked down at 3:30. I ran over here,” said parent Judith Perez.
“We all started panicking, and we were quiet, and we were sharing videos and stuff to try to calm down,” said the student who spoke with 7News
Parents and grandparents said they were hearing conflicting reports about what was happening on campus.
“They told [my son] that there was a gun inside, and they were looking for the kid,” said Perez.
“Actually, they were telling me one kid, and there’s two kids,” said grandparent Iliana Miller. “Police told me it was only one child, and there’s two kids. They’re looking for the other kids they haven’t found, and they’re looking for the gun. They haven’t found it.”
Miami-Dade Schools Police responded to the school and found no weapons. They gave the all clear soon after.
After an hour of waiting, the students were dismissed. Parents waiting outside breathed a collective sigh of relief that this threat was not credible.
“I’m blessed, and I believe I’m not the only one blessed,” said another concerned mother. “All of the parents are here. They’re also blessed because otherwise things would be more chaotic for us. We just said, ‘God, thank you.'”
“I have my life back, you know? I was terrified, knowing that he was in there,” said Perez, “but I’m good. I’m happy and blessed.”
School district officials confirmed no weapons were found on campus.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.