Though details remain sketchy, Santa Barbara School District officials have confirmed that San Marcos High School is currently under lockdown due to reports of a man with a gun on campus earlier this morning. According to district spokesperson Barbara Keyani, the school was placed on lockdown at 10:10 a.m., Thursday, October 1, after a report of a gunman “at the top of the campus . . . We have had contact with the principal and all the students are safe,” said Keyani. “They are under lockdown and the SWAT team is out there right now.” Keyani added that the lockdown is the result of an “unsubstantiated” witness account of a person with a gun. She declined to comment on whether the report was of a student or a non-student with the firearm.
Unconfirmed reports from witnesses at the scene have hinted that the incident may stem from a suspected gang-related fight at the school this morning in which a student may or may not have brandished a gun. According to police scanner chatter, authorities are searching the school and the surrounding area for a clean-shaven Hispanic male in a long, white sleeved T-shirt after the suspect, along with three friends, threatened a white student earlier this morning and flashed a .45 pistol.