The Temple Police Department said Temple High School was placed on a lockdown after a suspicious package was found at the school Wednesday. The lockdown was lifted within the hour it was issued.
Someone on the campus found the bag and contacted police, causing the school to go into a hard lockdown at 10:06 a.m. Twenty minutes later, the lockdown was downgraded to a soft lockdown.
Temple Police Department Public Information Officer Shawana Neely described the package as a container. Neely didn't disclose the contents of it but she did say it wasn't dangerous.
“I want parents to know that their kids are safe that they can continue sending their kids like normal. If there is anything that we develop that they need to take caution, we’ll let them know," Neely said.
Tony Nguyen whose 15-year-old brother goes to Temple High School said he sent him a message to check on him. This after their mother had received a call from the school about the lockdown.
“[I was] just concerned because all of the shootings going on with the Florida high school," Nguyen said.
The suspicious package was found a week after the school massacre in Parkland, Florida that claimed 17 lives. In addition, several threats, that have not turned out to be credible, have been made at other Central Texas high schools, including Belton and Copperas Cove.
"We've had so many of these in the last couple of days that it appears that maybe some kids joking around. We are not sure but that kind of seems like the trend," Neely said.
Nguyen also said that it was probably just a false alarm.
“They’re just trying to scare people," Nguyen said.
However, he feels more comfortable knowing police looked into it.
"If law enforcement does their job, we'll be good," Nguyen said.
Temple ISD's Communication Director Matthew LeBlanc said students and staff were not unsafe at any point but the lockdown was used as a precautionary measure.
He added some parents picked up their children after the lockdown was lifted.
Temple Police Department said they have control of the package. At this point, officers are trying to determine who left the package at the school and his or her intentions.
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