Loaded Pistol Magazine Found At Nowata Public Schools

Nowata Police are searching for whoever brought a loaded pistol magazine to school Friday.

Both the high school and middle school went on lock down for about an hour while police searched for a weapon.

A student found the loaded magazine sitting under a bench in the weight room.

"I heard about it from my son. He texted me and just said, ‘Hey, we're in lock down,’" parent Shiloh Freeman said.

Police and sheriff's deputies searched the schools for a weapon but didn't find one.

Assistant Police Chief Sabrina Lee said three students told officers a classmate posted a threat on social media last week about a gun being brought to school March 9th.

Police said none of the students who saw the post told anyone.

"We could've had a major disaster on our hands today,” Lee said.

Several parents came to pick their kids up from school after the lock down ended - an absence the district said will be excused.

Freeman chose to leave her three boys to finish their school day.

"I think when parents get worked up about that type of stuff it makes the kids more anxious and more nervous and more scared to go to school," she said. "I trust the school system…If it was a bigger deal than what it was, I think we would've known, but I wasn't nervous for them."

Lee said she believes the children who saw the threat knew what to do but didn't come forward because they were afraid of being bullied.

"The kids that we interviewed today, I guarantee you, will end up with some sort of repercussions and bullying out of this," she said. "There has to be that level or trust and there has to be that level of help, and until bullying and the mental health epidemic is changed there is no way that we can get these students to come to us when there is an actual problem."

Police said they have an active shooter training course in April and staff at Nowata schools will be invited.

In a post on the Nowata Public Schools Facebook page, they said, "Parents, The Nowata Police Department has completed a search of the HS and MS. They have given us the all clear. No weapon was found and no threats have been made. The lock down has not been lifted and students will resume their normal schedule. We would like to thank local law enforcement for their quick response and help."

The school made this initial post on their Facebook page: