MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Police on Friday searched a Memphis high school that was placed on lockdown after a report of four armed people inside the building, but no intruders were found, authorities said.
Memphis Police Department spokeswoman Karen Rudolph said officers descended on East High School after the department received a call from Shelby County Schools saying trespassers with guns might have been on school property.
Rudolph said a student reported seeing a person or people at the school who were in a Thursday off-campus altercation with guns involved. The student told an official at the school, Rudolph said.
A phone message sent to parents during the search said students were safely in their classrooms with teachers during the lockdown. Worried parents went to the school to check on their children.
The lockdown was lifted about 10:30 a.m., after officers reported finding no trespassers, Rudolph said.
Classes resumed, though parents were allowed to check on their children.
Claudia Mena was driving by the school when she saw the police activity. She parked in the school’s long driveway and attempted to reach her son, a 12th-grade student, by cellphone.
“I’m worried because of all the bad things we have seen take place at other schools, and I don’t know what’s happening,” Mena said during the lockdown.
She eventually received the recorded message from the school saying the students were safe and no armed people had been located.
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