Meritless Gun Threat Prompts School Lockdown

went into lockdown mode Tuesday morning after one student believed two other students were talking about bringing a gun on campus, said.

Sgt. Eric Riddell said students were interviewed and the threat proved to be unfounded.

"We took the case as suspicious circumstances, as a precaution, but a gun was never seen and never located," Riddell said.

Bill Welch, director of , handles security for the . He said he was notified just before 9 a.m., and Riddell said Novato police got involved at 9:12 a.m. Officers were at the school by 9:18 and started interviewing the reporting party and those suspected of talking about a gun, Riddell said.

The campus lockdown took place at 9:44 a.m., just as eighth-graders were starting their walk to nearby for their year-end pool party. Students stayed in classrooms as officers and administrators went through campus to check for anything suspicious, Riddell said. The "all clear" was given at 9:56 a.m.

The school district was preparing to send an e-mail to all San Jose Middle School parents late Tuesday morning, said NUSD spokeswoman Leslie Benjamin. She said in addition to an e-news update, the district would use automated call-out phone system to reach all San Jose Middle School parents with a message in English and Spanish.

Welch said the positive result of a meritless threat is that it can be used to assess the coordinated response by law enforcement, administrators and his security team.

"It went smoothly and very quickly," Welch said. "Classes were impacted no more than 10 minutes and the coordination was excellent."