An unfounded school-shooting threat prompted lockdowns today at a half-dozen secondary, middle and elementary schools in the Black Mountain Ranch and neighboring 4S Ranch communities, authorities reported.
An unknown person made the telephone threat against Del Norte High School via a call to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department in the early afternoon, said Ryan Wisniewski, a lieutenant with the agency.
The menacing statements were delivered in a "robotic"-sounding, computer-generated-style voice, according to the San Diego Police Department.
The threat prompted lockdowns at the high school just west of 4S Ranch Parkway, as well as at nearby Del Sur, Design39Campus and Stone Ranch elementary schools; Oak Valley Middle School; and Maranatha Christian Schools, a preschool-through-12th-grade campus off Camino del Sur.
Police officers and sheriff's deputies took up positions at the campuses and searched them along with surrounding areas by ground and aboard patrol helicopters.
As of shortly before 1:30 p.m., there were no sightings of any armed or otherwise suspicious people at any of the schools or in adjacent neighborhoods, SDPD Lt. Adam Sharki told news crews.
"All the kids are safe," he said. "All of this is out of an abundance of caution. ... There are no reports of anybody with a weapon, nobody walking around on campus who's not supposed to be there."
Sharki acknowledged that tensions were particularly high in light of the fact that the threat came just two days after 19 students and two teachers died in a shooting rampage at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
Just after 2 p.m., campus officials lifted each of the school lockdowns, and all the affected students were released to their families.
Police and sheriff's personnel will continue to investigate the threats to try to determine who is responsible, and there will be extra personnel at the six campuses as a precaution on Friday, according to the SDPD.
