Santa Barbara High School’s campus was placed on a temporary precautionary “hold” late Friday morning, after school staff looking into an on-campus incident found one student in possession of an unspecified weapon.
Police responded to the campus just before 11 a.m. on October 17, following what school staff said was an incident involving several students. Staff members found that one of the students involved in the incident had a weapon, and school staff safely isolated the student and were able to take the weapon, according to a statement issued by the Santa Barbara Police Department Friday afternoon.
The Santa Barbara Police Department and Santa Barbara Unified School District were not able to provide further detail as to the nature of the alleged weapon, or whether the student in possession of the weapon was taken into custody or off campus.
According to SBPD reports, police arrived at the campus to help investigate the incident when school staff learned that a second student may have also been in possession of a weapon. At that point, school officials and the police placed the campus on a precautionary “hold” status, requiring all classrooms to stay in place to ensure all students and staff were safe and secure.
Officers contacted the second student and found that the student was not in possession of a weapon. After police cleared the school and found no further threat to campus safety, the temporary hold was lifted and school resumed for the day.
At 2:15 p.m., Santa Barbara High School Principal Ed Gomez sent a safety notification to parents informing them of the incident on campus.
School officials and police did not describe the incident or provide details about the number of students that may have been involved. No injuries or arrests were reported. This is being investigated as an isolated incident, and Principal Gomez’s message reiterated that there is “no indication of any other safety concerns” at Santa Barbara High School.
SBPD will continue to investigate the incident.
