Irving high school locked down as principal learns of handgun in bathroom, police say
The principal of an Irving high school locked down the campus on Wednesday afternoon after learning of a report that a student had displayed a handgun in a school bathroom, police said.
Officers slowly searched MacArthur High School room by room for several hours into Wednesday night. Irving police said on Twitter about 9:40 p.m. that the search was complete and no gun was found.
Students and teachers were being taken in buses to Travis Middle School at 1600 Finley Road and dismissed from there, a process which took several hours. By 9:40 p.m.., all students had been evacuated and taken to the middle school to be reunited with their families, police said on Twitter.
The principal learned of the gun report about 3:15 p.m., said Officer Robert Reeves, an Irving police spokesman. The way in which the gun was displayed was not clear.
No one was shot.
Authorities detained three boys seen on a hall video surveillance camera recording leaving the bathroom, Reeves said. Those three teens were taken to the police station and later released to their parents under the department’s procedures for juvenile cases, police said on Twitter.
Classes will be held as normal on Thursday, the Irving Independent School District announced on Twitter. “However, out of an abundance of caution, additional security measures will be taken, including an increased police presence,” Irving ISD said.
This story was originally published April 14, 2021 at 7:17 PM.
