False report of gun in Baltimore high school prompts lockdown

Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Baltimore was placed on lockdown for several hours on Wednesday due to a false report of a gun on campus, school officials said. 

Around 11:30 a.m., officials said a student reported seeing a person with a weapon inside the school. The school was immediately placed on lockdown, parents were notified and an investigation began. 

Baltimore police, school officers and sheriff's deputies all assisted in the search for the weapon, but no firearm was recovered. 

Sherry Christian with Baltimore City Public Schools said some parents arrived at the school and were outside as the investigation was being conducted. 

"Parents came to the school, obviously, when they heard," Christian told WJZ. "Students began sending photos, and they came to the school to try to get their family member. They were outside as this was happening."

The lockdown was lifted around 1 p.m., and classes resumed. All after-school activities have been cancelled on Wednesday. 

Chief of City School's Police, Jeffrey Shorter, praised the student who initially reported the possible weapon, saying, "We teach our students, if you see something, say something. It works, and we responded accordingly."

Parent Tammie Garrett Edwards expressed her concern when she spoke with WJZ outside of the school building. Edwards said her son and two grandsons all attend Dunbar High. 

"It makes me feel terrified," she said. "I don't want to send my son to school. I want him to get an education, but I don't want him to go to school."