School Lockdown: Hallandale Student Snaps Photo Of Loaded Clip
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HALLANDALE BEACH (CBSMiami) -- A scare at Hallandale Beach High School led to a "code red" lockdown after a video on social media showed what appeared to be a loaded gun magazine.
It led to some tense moments for students and parents, initially believing that a gun was brought to school.
Hallandale Beach Police said a 10th grade student did have a loaded clip with him that he posted to Snapchat. Students said it spread to social media.
It's difficult to see, but authorities shared the video of the magazine clip on their Twitter page.
Update ref Hall High Schl Lockdown. Snapchat post of a student with loaded magazine clip. Investigation continues. C video of magazine clip. pic.twitter.com/uQW5VEDtHV
— Hallandale Beach PD (@HallandaleBchPD) April 6, 2017
"We have a code red and then they put us in the auditorium for two hours and there was a one-hour wait," said one student.
They assumed something was wrong when they were huddled into the auditorium.
"They put us in the auditorium and turned off the lights and told us we couldn't talk," said Paola Hernandez Bello.
Many figured the social media post had something to do with the lockdown.
"There was video showing it online," said another student. "It was just bad. They stood us in a room in the cafeteria."
Alarmed parents rushed to the school.
"It's my daughter," said parent Auxiliadora Caldera. "A lot of kids bring guns to school and you don't know what to expect. One day you see them and then one day you don't."
Hallandale Beach Police Chief Dwayne Flournoy said a school resource officer was alerted about the Snapchat post and took action.
"It showed a picture of a student with a loaded magazine that he had during a pep rally," said Chief Flournoy.
On Snapchat, picture posts and videos self-destruct after just a few seconds. Because of that, kids may feel that it's easier to get away with mischief because of the time-sensitive, disappearing material.
"Yes, you can put stuff on Snapchat and you don't think you are going to get caught, but you will get caught," said student Cedric Britton.
Officers searched the school and found the student.
"The student at the pep rally was not in possession of the loaded magazine," said Chief Flournoy. "Then there was a decision to bring in other law enforcement officers and there was a thorough search of every student."
While no one was injured, the chief was alarmed.
"It's very concerning to not recover it," he said. "It was associated with a firearm and either the firearm was here and we did not recover it or the firearm is somewhere else and with a youngster."
Parents agreed.
"I just feel we ought to be more concerned with our children and be more vigilant about who they hangout with," said parent Kathy Levarity.
Thursday was supposed to be an early release day. Students thought they were going home at 11:30 a.m. Instead, they were released at 1:30 p.m.
Police are now questioning the 10th grader. They didn't say what sort of trouble he could face.