A lockdown that forced four schools and several early childhood centres to close for nearly three hours has now been lifted.
Four Te Atatū schools, including two primary schools, had earlier been ordered into lockdown as armed police swooped on the area near Rutherford College.
The lockdown was lifted soon after 2pm.
Police said they were still investigating a threatening phone call made to Rutherford College.
“A precautionary lockdown at the high school and nearby education facilities has now been lifted.
“These matters are taken seriously, and we understand this will have been alarming for parents and the community.
“We have established there are no immediate risks in relation to this matter. Police will be maintaining a presence at the school this afternoon for reassurance purposes.”
Rutherford College was placed in lockdown after receiving “an anonymous phone call of a highly threatening nature that informed us that an armed individual would be on school grounds imminently” at 11.22am.
Police said the response was sparked after the school received a “verbal threat”.
“As a precaution, the school and a neighbouring childcare facility have been advised to [go into] lockdown while further enquiries are made. Police are in the area and will continue to provide reassurance to staff at both sites.”
One Rutherford College student inside the locked-down school told the Herald: “This is a very scary experience for me and my classmates, this is our first time. The only thing that we have been told is that we have to be in lockdown and stay quiet.”
“The teachers are super-strict [telling] students to stay under the desk. They are doing a really good job of keeping everything under control.”
A second Rutherford College student said they heard the lockdown bell as the morning tea break was ending.
”We were told to go under our desks. People were rushing into classes, it was really scary.
”People were messaging their parents. We had very little information about what was going on.”
Armed police and patrol vehicles are stationed outside the West Auckland college. Parents are not being allowed inside and have been told to wait outside.
Rutherford College said the school received the threatening call at 11.22am.
“Rutherford placed the school into immediate lockdown while simultaneously informing New Zealand Police of the threat. Their subsequent response and ongoing support has been reassuring in securing the school grounds.
“Our number-one priority is to keep our students and staff safe, and as such, we will be remaining in lockdown until police advise us otherwise. Further information will be forthcoming. We thank our staff, students and the community for their support during this time.”
One parent at the scene said they received a text message at 11.53am about the school going into lockdown.
”You hear about these things happening in the States, not here,” she said.
“I just am very anxious. There was a threat of someone coming down and shooting. A threatening phone call.”
A second parent said he wanted to know why the street was not blocked off: ”Both of my boys are in there. I am very angry about it.”
A message on Rutherford College’s website confirmed it is in lockdown “due to an incident”. A kōhanga reo at the school site is also in lockdown.
A Te Atatū Intermediate student said pupils were in class just after morning tea when a bell rang alerting them to go into lockdown.
”At first we thought it was a drill until our principal, over the speakers, alerted us it was in fact not. As soon as we heard the bell, we rushed under our desks [and were] very scared, as this had never happened before.”
‘Please do not come to the school or phone’
“We will continue to provide updates on our website as often as possible. Please do not come to the school or phone the school as you will not be attended to and this may cause disruption to the management of this incident and could potentially place yourselves and/or our staff and student’s safety at risk,” the message says.
“We will update this website when the lockdown has been completed. Thank you.”
Police officers stationed outside Rutherford College, which has been placed in lockdown. Photo / Akula Sharma
Locals are reporting armed police at the school and say police with rifles were setting up near the Z petrol station.
Parents on social media say their children had texted them to say the school was in lockdown.
Further updates would be provided on the school website.
The following early childhood education centres were also in lockdown: BestStart Te Atatū, BestStart Te Atatū Rd, Fetufa Tokelau Akoga Kamata Early Childhood Centre, Go Bananas Childcare, Rutherford Preschool, Te Atatū Peninsula Kindergarten, Te Atatū Village Kindergarten, Kōhanga Reo o Te Kōtuku.
The Ministry of Education said: “We will continue to work with the police and will be supporting the schools and early learning services as the situation unfolds.”
Earlier lockdown at Manurewa high school
Alfriston College in Manurewa was also placed in lockdown for about 30 minutes earlier this morning.
Police said there was a report of a person with a gun in the wider Randwick Park area but that had not been substantiated.
The school was now out of lockdown and operating as normal.
