Airsoft Pistol Leads to 4,500-student GUSD Lockdown
GLENDALE - A student who brought an air-soft pistol to school grounds triggered a lockdown at three local schools today after administrators received reports of an armed student on campus, officials said.
Eleanor J. Toll Middle School at 700 Glenwood Road, where the rumor surfaced, entered lockdown mode about 1:45 p.m. after a student reported seeing a handgun on campus.
About 4,500 students were affected as Hoover High School and Mark Keppel Elementary also were secured as a precaution.
Police recovered the model gun from a backpack just after 3 p.m., and officials began releasing students. Police identified the boy as a seventh grader from Toll Middle School, who was being held for questioning.
Brian Crosby, who teaches journalism at Hoover High, was holed up with about 18 students in his classroom as police conducted a room-by-room sweep.
"The door is locked, the lights are off and we're under tables," he said during the lockdown.
Nayiri Nahabedian, a Glendale Unified School District board member, praised the vigilance of the student who made the original report to school officials.
"We are very fortunate that one of our students acted responsibly and notified an adult when they saw something suspicious," she said. "Everything happened the way it was supposed to."