Conn. school lockdowns lifted after false alarm

A Connecticut State Police tactical team searches a train station near an elementary school, which was in lockdown, in Ridgefield, Conn., Dec. 17, 2012, after a suspicious person was seen near the station. / AP Photo

Updated at 11:38 a.m. ET

RIDGEFIELD, Conn. A suspicious person whose umbrella was mistaken for a weapon near a train station in Ridgefield forced officials there and in Redding to briefly lock down schools Monday morning, CBS Hartford affiliate WFSB-TV reports.

Ridgefield police said just before 8 a.m. that they received word of a suspicious man wearing all black who may have been carrying a weapon near a local train station.

Police later said the man was only carrying an umbrella, and the all-clear was given a short time later.

In addition to the lockdowns, students en route to Branchville Elementary School were rerouted to East Ridge Middle School as a precaution.

Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance spoke about Ridgefield's lockdown at a news conference on the shooting investigation in Newtown, which is about 20 miles away.

Vance assured reporters that all children were safe.

He said some state troopers were sent to the area to assist.

[livlifee]

This is either wrong information, or a coincidence because Upper Dublin high school in the suburbs of philadelphia went in lockdown for an umbrella being mistaken for a gun today.

[matt6052]

President Obama must sign an executive order forcing all states to put National Guardsmen at schools until localities can hire and train armed guards. This bloodshed must stop now.