ACTON, Mass. — Students at a school in Acton had to shelter in place for about two hours on Wednesday morning following a report of a “concerning situation” involving a possible firearm in the building, officials said.
Officers responding to a report of a student or students may have brought a gun into Acton-Boxborough Regional High School ordered students to remain in their classrooms while crews swept the building, according to Superintendent Peter Light.
“After multiple searches of the school, they found nothing,” the Acton Police Department said in a statement.
Yusif Rahman, whose sister is a student at the school, felt a wave of panic come over him as the news broke.
“Seeing this stuff happen on the news is one thing but happening in your own town is another thing,” said Rahman. “Like my heart dropped as soon as I saw my mom texted me that – I didn’t know how to react. I was in shock honestly.”
The all-clear was given at around 12:30 p.m. and there were no firearms found in the school.
In a letter to the school community, Light said, “After close involvement of the Acton Police, we have determined the school is safe and that students can resume classes now. Given the specificity of the anonymous report, we were able to determine that other schools were not involved and did not need to be included in our decision to shelter in place.”
Light noted that school officials consulted with the police and determined that it was safe to remain in class and continue on with learning for the day.
“We will continue to work with police to investigate the initial report, but at this time have determined that it is safe to resume classes and normal operations at the high school,” Light said. “We are thankful for the immediate response of the Acton Police that allowed us to investigate the concerns and quickly determine the school is safe for students and staff.”
Video from the scene showed armed officers patrolling the perimeter of the campus and speaking with concerned people.
“We recognize that incidents of this nature are alarming and evoke a wide range of feelings among students, staff, families and the broader community,” Light said. ”Our counselors are available for students who need to process the incident.”
Light also confirmed that all of the individuals involved in the situation have been identified and administrators are in the process of speaking with them.
“We want to reiterate that while we will continue to investigate, we did not find any evidence that a weapon was brought into the high school,” Light said. “We do however, approach all situations of this nature with an abundance of caution. I also recognize that sometimes families ask if we can provide updates during important incidents.”
The incident remains under investigation.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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