Anxious Morning For Montara Elementary School Parents; Report Of Gun Triggers Lockdown
MONTARA (CBS SF) -- Dozens of relieved parents hugged their young children Thursday after a lockdown of a Montara elementary school was lifted following a tense wait as deputies searched for a gunman.
Farallone View Elementary School was locked down around 8:45 a.m. after a student reported seeing a man with a gun. Despite pleas from the San Mateo County Sheriff's Department to stay away from the school, a crowd of about 50 parents began gathering about a block away where police were blocking entry to the rura campus.
"Like all of our schools do, we go into lockdown or shelter in place when there is a community concern, and as I understand it there was a report of a concern off campus," Cabrillo Unified School District Superintendent Sean McPhetridge told the Half Moon Bay Journal. "Sheriffs asked us to go into lockdown as they investigate area."
The gunman was not on campus, authorities said, but dozens of deputies searched the grounds surrounding the school with the aid of a helicopter. The students and teachers were all accounted for during a roll call.
By 11 a.m., the students began to leave the school and were reunited with their parents.
Authorities asked that parents or responsible adults arriving at the school to pick up children have photo identification and to be patient.
If you are a parent coming to pick up your child from Farallone View, please have your ID ready & please be patient.
— San Mateo County S.O (@SMCSheriff) September 26, 2019
The safety of everyone is extremely important to us & we need to make sure that your child is only going home with someone listed on the emergency list on file. https://t.co/ZsXxxFSimS
The sheriff's department said they did not find any evidence of an armed man.