Several schools in Yuba County were on lockdown Thursday for what turned out to be a swatting call received at Yuba Gardens Intermediate School.

But parents are frustrated over the information they got from the school and the sheriff's office.

The Yuba County Sheriff's Office said they received a call from staff members at Yuba Gardens Intermediate School who were on the phone with someone threatening harm to the school. But that was found not to be a credible threat and everyone is safe.

"All the teachers told their class it was not a drill. At first, I thought the teacher was just saying that to make us stay quiet," said Sandra, an eighth-grade student at Yuba Gardens Intermediate. "We actually stayed quiet more than usual. The teacher just sat in front of the door and then we all just sat by the door."

The sheriff's office responded with K9s and drones to search the campus.

"The kids started texting a little before 8:30 this morning and parents didn't get a notification from the school district until an hour later," said Helen Riddle, a grandmother collecting a student from the campus.

"My frustrations are that I wasn't notified right away. I would've been really, really worried, more than I was, if I wasn't in contact with her. That was a big deal for me, her having her phone and telling me mom I'm OK," said Donna Potts, Sandra's mom.

"The district waited until the sheriff's department released a statement. We do not want to put anything out that would impact law enforcement's active investigation," the Marysville Joint Unified School District said in a statement. 

CBS Sacramento took the same concerns to the sheriff's office.

"That's a hard one. I know it's extremely frustrating and as a parent myself, I can't deny that I wouldn't be equally as frustrated or upset if I wasn't getting information quickly. With that being said, though, and I understand it more being on this side of law enforcement, but when they're doing an investigation, they're working as quickly and efficiently as they can to get answers and if there is a threat, to remove that threat," said Katy Goodson, public information officer with the Yuba County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office says in a situation where things are changing minute to minute, their number one priority is the safety of students and staff, and then messaging. They say they have to be careful with what information they put out while investigating whether or not a threat is credible.

"It takes a lot of time and effort. It takes us away from things that we could be doing in a more proactive manner, but we're just thankful it wasn't an actual threat and no one was hurt or injured," said Goodson.

The caller used a fake phone number that they're trying to track.

The sheriff's office says swatting calls are becoming more of an issue, but that they never want to assume it's a false threat, so they take it very seriously each time.

The sheriff's office also apologized for some confusion with initial messaging from the sheriff's office Thursday morning on social media. At first, they said all schools in Yuba County were on lockdown, but they updated the messaging to say that just nearby schools opted for a soft lockdown out of an abundance of caution.