An Orange County High School was placed on lockdown for several hours Thursday afternoon after an empty shotgun shell casing was found on campus, officials said.
No weapon was found, and students at Dana Hills High School were released from school just before 4 p.m. under the supervision of Orange County Sheriff's Department deputies and school personnel.
When deputies were responding to the campus for an unrelated call about noon, they found the empty casing and began a search for a weapon that it might have come from, according to the Sheriff's Department.
The 156,000-sqaure-foot enclosed campus was locked down as a precaution as a SWAT team searched classroom to classroom.
Parents gathered outside the school during the afternoon.
"I've been here three hours. When it's you're kid, it's devastating," parent Annette Norberg said.
Students and staff were sheltered in classrooms as authorities investigated the suspicious object, said principal Jason Allemann in a statement on the school’s website.
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“All students and staff are currently safe and secure,” Allemann said.
The message stated that emails from Allemann would be the best source of information as the school’s phone lines have been overwhelmed due to a high number of callers.
