Central Catholic was put in lockdown Monday afternoon after a hoax phone call was made to San Antonio Police Department about an active shooter. 

The call was made around 2:10 PM and the caller claimed there was an active shooter inside Central Catholic High School and that there were multiple victims. SAPD officers and other first responders rushed to the aid of Central Catholic and the school was placed on lockdown immediately. One of the first to react was an off-duty SAPD Central Catholic security officer who quickly ran inside the building after hearing the alert. SAPD officers arrived quickly and within minutes the street was full of officers and first responders. They quickly began a sweep of the entire school. They swept every classroom and evacuated the students across the street to a local fire station. They found no shooter and determined the call was a hoax. Around 3:15 PM  the all-clear was given and students were allowed to reenter the school shortly after.  

Chief of Police William McManus was at the scene. According to Kens 5, he described the situation and said, “There have been calls all over the country, swatting calls… This was one of those calls.” Instances like this cause a dilemma as a serious situation like a shooting requires immediate action and the police must take every report seriously as they don’t know if a report is real or not. In his interview, Chief McManus also mentioned that the response of first responders was fantastic and that the building was swept quickly.

While this situation was surprising and scary for the Central Catholic Community, it demonstrated how security measures and safety are put in place and taken seriously for the students of Central Catholic.