A high school and kindergarten have been locked down after reports a man was seen roaming the grounds with a gun.
Stratford High School in Taranaki, on New Zealand’s North Island, was shut down while armed police searched the campus.
While locked inside a classroom one student, 15, sent her mother a panicked text message saying someone had been trying the door handle.
‘Police are still in the area, no one has been located at this stage. Cordons are still in place at the moment,’ a police spokesperson told The NZ Herald.
Officers combing the grounds were joined by the Armed Offenders Squad and a dog handler unit, following witness reports of a man with a gun.
‘Stratford High School is currently in lockdown. All students are safe and will be allowed to make contact once the lockdown is over,’ the school said on Facebook.
‘Police currently have the situation under control, so please do not panic.’
The crisis began early in the morning, with some students arriving after the lockdown taken to a nearby park.
Others were locked in classrooms and the school hall with their teachers while worried parents waited outside police cordons.
Concerned parent Mark Langton said his son, 16, was still locked inside the school, but believed the police have the situation under control, he told Stuff.
“They have got things in place to deal with this kind of stuff. There’s no kids screaming so that has to be a good sign.’
Nikki Hall said she had been unable to contact her 14-year-old daughter who was inside, because of the lockdown communication policy.
‘We’re all basically pretty scared because there’s some guy running around with a gun,’ she said.
‘You would expect this to be happening in America not good old Stratford.’