Lockdown Lifted After Unfounded Reports of Shooter at San Marcos High School
Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Deputies Responded Within Minutes, Shut Down Area During Search
San Marcos High School and Santa Barbara City College’s Wake Campus on Turnpike Road were placed on lockdown out of an abundance of caution after law enforcement responded to reports of an active shooter on or near the high school campus around 10:30 a.m. Monday.
As of 11:25 a.m, Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Raquel Zick said that “the school is safe,” the lockdown was lifted, and parents should check in at the attendance office.
At 11:15 a.m., Zick said reports of an active shooter were “unfounded,” but asked that people avoid the area while the entire campus is searched.
Deputies were on the scene within minutes, and witnesses on the campus said that students were sheltered in place inside their classrooms during the search.
The Sheriff’s Office set up a command center across the street in the parking lot of the Turnpike Shopping Center while authorities did a thorough search for a credible threat.
Around 11 a.m., Santa Barbara City College sent out an emergency text message alert to its students, staff, and faculty, saying that the Wake Campus — which is located just across the freeway from San Marcos High School — was also under a “shelter-in-place” warning due to a ”dangerous suspect on or near” the campus on Turnpike Road.
