Report of a gun on May River High campus led to lockdown, panic and fear Wednesday
When a student at May River High School told the school resource officer that another student had a gun on campus, it caused the school to initiate a full lockdown Wednesday afternoon, sending kids running out of the building in fear and prompting parents to drive to the school after seeing comments on social media about an active shooter.
There was no active shooter, however. And the report of a gun was “just a rumor,” according to Bluffton Police Capt. Joe Babkiewicz said.
The lockdown, which began during a class change at 2:12 p.m., lasted for approximately two hours on Wednesday afternoon. Babkiewicz said “eight to 10” police officers came to the school to find students who had spread the rumor, and then to find the student who was the subject of the rumor.
The students “did a phenomenal job,” he said, including the ones who ran out of the building.
Beaufort County School District spokesman Jim Foster said that instructing students who are closer to a door than a classroom to run away is a new procedure that’s becoming standard across the country. It’s especially helpful for incidents that occur during lunch periods or class changes, he said, because classrooms are quickly locked and inaccessible to those in the hallway.
A post about the lockdown in the 20,000-plus member Facebook group “Bluffton/Hilton Head Ask and Answer (original)“ garnered more than 230 comments, with some suggesting that there was an active shooter at the school.
“It’s def not a drill she said,” one commenter wrote about her daughter. “The principal announced they do not know why have been instructed to lockdown. My daughter is huddled in a corner with the other students.”
“My son was told by another kid that this boy was going to shoot up the school,” another commenter wrote. “I did report it but didnt know what to do as it was hearsay and that can really screw someone’s life up with false accusations.”
In an email to parents at 3:21 p.m., school principal Todd Bornscheuer said that there were “no reported injuries and law enforcement is currently working to address the situation.”
Three minutes later, the school’s Facebook page updated its announcement of the lockdown: “Rumors of an active shooter are NOT accurate. The Bluffton Police Department is still on-site.”
Students were dismissed from the school at 4 p.m. once the school had verified attendance, according to Bornscheuer.