UPDATE: Batavia High School cleared. No suspect found.
CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- No gunman was found after police responded Monday morning to to a report of a person with a rifle entering Batavia High School.
At 6:03 a.m., a citizen came to the Batavia Police Department to report a male dressed in black entering the high school at 1201 Main Street, Batavia Police Deputy Chief Shawn Mazza said during a press briefing. The person was reportedly wearing a backpack and may have been armed with a rifle.
Police said the school was on lockdown and had been evacuated at around 6:15 a.m.
From Kris Habermehl in @SpotHero #Mobile780 at @BataviaHS where the large police presence remains following reports of a male with rifle entering the school. Continue to avoid the area of Randall and Main for the time being. @WBBMNewsradio pic.twitter.com/ttVKvTtD8u
— Beau Duran (@BeauDuran)
April 8, 2019 The city of Batavia posted on Facebook around 6:40 a.m. stating that, "Batavia Police are responding to a report of an unknown male subject with a rifle entering Batavia High School."
Batavia Public School District 101 sent out a tweet around 7 a.m. reading, "Due to police activity at @BataviaHS, no one is allowed in building. All buses are not operating to BHS at this time. If your child has been picked up by a bus, they will be returned home. All other schools will be in session with bus service. More info coming."
BHS Alert: Due to police activity at @BataviaHS, no one is allowed in building. All buses are not operating to BHS at this time. If your child has been picked up by a bus, they will be returned home. All other schools will be in session with bus service. More info coming ...
— BPS101 (@BPS101)
April 8, 2019 On the school's website, an alert read: "Due to police activity at Batavia High School, please wait to come to the Batavia High School this morning. No one is allowed in building at this time. All buses are not operating to Batavia High School at this time. If your child has been picked up by a bus, they will be returned home. More information will be shared as soon as it’s available from the Batavia Police Department. All other schools will be in session with bus service."
Around 7:40 a.m., police said nothing had been found yet during a search of the building.
Here's what we know about the Batavia High School lockdown so far:Police received a call of a male with a rifle entering the school just after 6:00 this morning. Officers are searching the school. So far they have found nothing. @wbbmnewsradio (1/2)
— Rob Hart (@RobHartWBBM)
April 8, 2019 People are being urged to stay away from the high school until the conclusion of the search. School bus service has stopped, and students who have been picked up by school buses are returning home @WBBMNewsradio
— Rob Hart (@RobHartWBBM)
April 8, 2019 “We’ve just finished a complete, thorough search of the interior of the building and were not able to locate anything,” Mazza said.
“At this point, going back and looking at surveillance, it looks like the person that was probably picked out as going in with a rifle was a student, probably carrying either a baseball bat, a baseball player carrying a baseball bat, or possibly an umbrella,” Mazza added.
An administrator with Batavia Public School District 101 said the school will have a late start Monday morning, with classes expected to begin at 10:51 a.m.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
