Skip to content

Condition: Post with Page_List

Listen
Search
Please enter at least 3 characters.

Latest Stories

Lockdown lifted after police respond to Shrine Catholic High School in Royal Oak over toy gun, 911 call

Royal Oak police respond to high school
Mike Campbell/WWJ

ROYAL OAK (WWJ) -- Police responded to Shrine Catholic High School & Academy in Royal Oak, Friday morning, over a toy gun and a 911 call.

No one was was hurt, police found no threat, and the lockdown has since been lifted at the school, on W. 13 Mile Rd., near Woodward Ave.


WWJ Newsradio 950's Mike Campbell reported from the scene that there was a sweep of the building after someone found a toy gun in an office at the school, before school started.

Per school protocols, the school went into lockdown, and arriving students arrived they were taken to the auditorium where they were held.

While the sweep was in process, Royal Oak Deputy Police Chief Keith Spencer said there was a second development.

"During the course of the sweep of the building, there was an erroneous 911 call that prompted a very large police response," Spencer said.

Spencer said the 911 caller reported something about shots fired, or gunfire heard at the school — but there was no truth to that claim.

Police reiterated that there is no threat, and students and staff at the school are safe. "At no time were the students in any danger from this incident," Spencer said.

Substitute Teacher Kristin Craig said they've since learned more about the toy that sent this whole thing off.

"It was a toy gun with an orange tip that was left be a toddler during a recent event at the school," Craig told Campbell.

Later in the morning, police remained on the scene and parents stood outside the school, as officers continued a thorough search of the building as a precaution.

Classes were allowed to resume for the day, although some parents were opting to take their children home.

"I just don't think there was gonna be a lot of focus on learning today, so many we'll just restart next Monday," said Abby Stover of Pleasant Ridge, who has two kids at Shrine.

The investigation is ongoing.