Photo: WBZ NewsRadio / Drew Moholland
DANVERS, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — (UPDATED: 5/22 3:02 p.m.) On Monday, Saint John's Prep issued an advisory that there was a reported shooter on campus at Benjamin Hall.
Head of School at St. John's Prep Ed Hardiman said in a video statement that there are no injuries and that everyone is safe from what they now believe was a swatting incident. A "swatting" is when someone calls in a hoax emergency to a location.
"Danvers and State police reported to campus and the school entered an enhanced lockdown protocol," school officials said.
Massachusetts State Police say students are out from the campus buildings. Parents are asked not to go to the school's campus, but are being directed to pick up their children at the Stop & Shop at 301 Newbury Street off Route One in Danvers.
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State and local police responded to the area on a report there was a person with a gun at the school, in their most recent posting officials say teams are still finding no threats in the area.
WBZ's Drew Moholland spoke to a sophomore student at Saint's John Prep named Luke, who recounted the events leading up to the evacuation.
"We were in the classroom and we got a broadcast call saying there was an active shooter in Ben Hall— that is the middle school I believe. We did not hear actual gunshots, [there were] kids around me saying that they might have heard gunshots. There was a lot of yelling and screaming before the intercom came in on the inside of our building— we all knew something was up. It was relatively silent more or less everyone just trying to get out of their safely," Luke said.
A pair of high school students said their class ran into nearby woods away from where the supposed shooter was reported to be.
"We heard the principal come over the loud speaker and it sounded like she was crying. They were like 'either run or hide.' Out into the woods we separated, we were hiding in this dude's yard and I think he was a cop, because he had a shotgun and dogs— there was a State Trooper there," another student said.
Two parents from Marblehead with a child at the school say the entire experience was surreal.
"It's hard processing it all, I think I'm still in shock. They're all safe from what we know," one mother said.
WBZ's Drew Moholland (@DrewWBZ) reports.
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