HOUSTON (Texas), Nov 18 (NNN-Xinhua) — Three students were in custody after calling in a fake active shooter threat on Thursday at a high school nearby Houston, the largest city in the U.S. state of Texas, authorities said.
George Ranch High School, part of the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District, was placed on lockdown as a precaution immediately following the threat, said the district.
A nearby middle school and junior high school were placed under secure status, where the outside doors are locked and the inside operates as usual. A lockdown means that all of the outside and inside doors to campus were locked.
It took 30 minutes for law enforcement agents on the scene to determine there was no active or credible threat, according to Principal Heather Patterson.
Fort Bend County Sheriff Eric Fagan said more students may be detained and could face charges of swatting and terroristic threats.
On May 24, an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, a small city in western Texas. — NNN-XINHUA