On Tuesday, April 4, District 113 Superintendent Bruce Law stated in a letter sent to parents that an anonymous tip was sent to Highland Park High School officials at around 10:20 a.m., reporting a student in the school with a gun. School officials relayed the tip to law enforcement, who then promptly asked officials to place the school on a secure lockdown. Numerous other public buildings in the city were also placed on lockdown.

The alleged student was later identified through security footage leaving the school campus with another student. Law enforcement officers entered the building to clear it while other officers searched for the students elsewhere. Several videos posted to various social media sites showed heavily armed police officers entering the main school building. Five students have been officially taken into custody in relation to the event. The lockdown was lifted shortly before 12:30 p.m.

The students at Highland Park High School had walked out earlier Tuesday morning in a protest over gun safety. They had planned to walk out at 10:14 a.m., which is the reported time of the first shots fired at last year’s Fourth of July parade, which claimed the lives of seven people, leaving a young child orphaned. This call for action comes after thousands of Nashville students walked out of classes on Monday, April 3, demanding a ban on assault weapons. Their walkout comes only a week after the deadly shooting at the Covenant School, which left six people dead, including three children under the age of ten. 

Further updates are to come as the story develops more.