Nassau County police were seen searching Elmont Memorial High School early Tuesday after responding to a suspicious person who was reportedly seen with a gun, a police spokesman confirmed.
Police said a 911 call came in around 7:40 a.m., reporting that a male teenager was seen walking into the school with what appeared to be a lime green gun. Officials cautioned that the weapon may have been a toy, but still sprang into action to ensure the safety of students and staff.
According to witnesses inside the school, the building at 555 Ridge Rd. remains locked down and students were awaiting answers from police. Several SWAT team officers and dozens of cops swarmed the school building this morning.
Social media posts by students said that SWAT team officers were going room by room as they continued the search for a possible gunman. Several students were searched by police and witnesses reported canine units were also searching lockers.
Repeated phone calls to the main office at Elmont Memorial High School went unanswered Tuesday morning. As of this writing, the school district’s Superintendent was not available for comment.
snaptwig.com will continue to follow this breaking news story. Stay tuned for the latest developments and updates.
UPDATE [1:29 p.m.]: The lockdown at Elmont Memorial High School has been lifted, Nassau County police confirmed. Authorities said the search for a possible gun or gunman on school grounds has turned up empty, but police and school officials would not comment any further on the situation. Frantic parents, police officers, county legislators and the media remained at the scene Tuesday afternoon. At least 50 parents had already picked their children up from the school and police said the heightened response stemmed from an “abundance of caution.”
UPDATE [3:48 p.m.]: No actual weapons were recovered during a massive search of Elmont High School earlier today. However, a spokesperson for the Nassau County Police Department said “after an extensive search of the entire building, police found a toy lime green and yellow lever action ‘Nerf’ gun in a student locker that fit the description of the original call.” The toy weapon was confiscated by school officials and will be returned to the parents of the student to whom it belonged, cops said. Bureau of Special Operations officers joined Emergency Services Unit and Canine officers to assist patrolmen from the first, second, fourth and seventh precincts during the lockdown and search. Every single student in attendance at the school today was searched by police, witnesses reported. No arrests were made and the district has not yet released a statement.
