NORTH PORT, Fla. — The North Port Police Department is investigating after two rounds of ammunition were found on an Imagine Schools bus on Thursday morning.
According to Imagine Schools, a bus driver found the ammunition while doing a routine sweep of the bus after dropping students off at the school. That driver then reported what he found to the school resource officer, prompting a lock down.
Dozens of parents were seen waiting in line outside the school to pick their student up early after hearing about the incident.
"I was scared, I ran down here, I started crying because this is close to home," said Cynthia Graham after picking up her student.
Watch Fox 4's Alex Orenczuk report on a lock down at a North Port school after ammunition was found on a bus:
Fox 4 spoke with Trevor Tondawes, a sophomore who said when the lock down was initially called, he thought it was a drill.
"Once my band teacher said there was live bullets found on a bus, I kind of got a little afraid," said Tondawes. "Thinking about where did these bullets come from, who had them, because it probably was a student who had the bullets and it’s kind of scary because what if they had a gun or something.”
According to Imagine Schools and the North Port Police Department, officers and school staff did a sweep of the school, searched lockers, and more than 80 students and determined there was no ongoing threat.
"We began investigating, and interviewed every single kid that was on that bus, went through belongings and areas where something could be stored here at the school," said Josh Taylor, North Port Police Department's Chief of Staff. "At this point, nothing additional has been discovered and there was never a threat, as far as a verbal threat to go along with that, potentially just a mistake or a kid picking up something they thought was interesting and leaving it on the bus."
Taylor said the police department would continue to investigate how the ammunition got on the bus.
Read Imagine School's full statement below:
Statement from Imagine Schools North Port Campus: 3:40pm Thursday
" Following routine safety sweeps of our school buses, a bus driver discovered two unspent rounds of ammunition and promptly reported the finding to our School Resource Officer (SRO). Because our buses are shared by both campuses, both the elementary and upper school campuses were placed on lockdown.
Working closely with the North Port Police Department, our staff initiated a search of the school grounds, classrooms, and lockers on both campuses. This included searches of the 21 students on the elementary campus and approximately 60-65 students from the upper school who rode the bus in question. After the sweep, law enforcement determined that there was no ongoing threat to student or staff safety, allowing the school to resume normal activities.
We are proud of how swiftly our students and staff followed established safety procedures. We are equally grateful for the timely response and support of the local police and SROs in ensuring the situation was resolved quickly and safely. Our priority remains the safety and well-being of all our students."
Update:
The lockdown has been lifted.
Original Reporting
According to the North Port Police Department, the Imagine School campuses are on lockdown.
Officers are currently investigating, after police say ammunition was found on a bus after students arrived at school.
Students associated with that bus are being questioned.
This is a developing story.
