Post last updated at 4:55 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9:
Students are safe, but Billy Mills Middle School was locked down and then dismissed early for police to complete a thorough search after a student reported seeing a Snapchat image of another student with a gun.
Following a thorough search of the school, police did not find a weapon, according to a late afternoon update to school families.
“LKPD’s Investigations Unit is following up on the information that sparked the response and the investigation continues,” according to the police department.
Lawrence police Sgt. Dan Ashley said police were actively searching the school as of around 11:30 a.m. Thursday to find a student who may have a firearm. He said no one had been injured and there was no active threat.
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Ashley said the student who made the report said she saw a photo of what she believed was a student posing in a locker room holding a gun.
Police had not yet identified the person in the post, and the student who reported it did not know who the post originally came from, according to the latest information police shared about that aspect of the investigation. They were working with Snapchat to try to get information about the post.
The school remained on lockdown for about an hour Thursday while law enforcement officers conducted a search of the campus.
Several dozen parents had gathered at the school after hearing of the lockdown from their students. None were allowed to enter the school. Police and district staff members provided updates as they became available.
School was dismissed early so officers could do a thorough sweep of the building and complete their investigation.
Lawrence police wrote in a 12:45 p.m. update that “All students in classrooms have been moved out of the school to the football field. Officers and school staff are now working to ensure no students are hiding anywhere in the school, as some students did when the school went into lockdown.”
Students were not allowed to take their bags with them when they left school.
“LKPD called in a firearm detection dog in an efficiency effort and to limit intrusive measures,” according to an afternoon update from the police department. “LKPD has identified the circumstances that promoted the response and will complete a thorough investigation.”
There is no school Friday, but families will be able to come collect their students’ backpacks and personal items between 8 a.m. and noon, according to a message from Principal Andrew Taylor.
More than a dozen law enforcement vehicles were seen on campus while the initial search was underway. Lawrence police, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Kansas Highway Patrol assisted with the search.
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