By Olivia Hampton
A 911 call that triggered a brief lockdown of Lylburn Downing Middle School Monday morning turned out to be a false alarm.
Lexington Police Capt. Bucky Miller said a man called police claiming that he shot several people and put their bodies in the trunk of a car near Diamond Street near the school.
Miller said there had been no shootings, but police took the man into custody without arresting him. A SWAT team made a sweep of a house as a precaution.
“The guy had some mental issues,” Miller said. The unnamed Staunton man was sent to a psychiatric facility after being examined at Carilion Stonewall Jackson Hospital, Miller said.
Washington and Lee Journalism Professor Dayo Abah said she received a text message from her daughter, who was on her way to Lylburn Downing at the time of the incident.
“She arrived at the school and the police had barricaded it,” Abah said. Lexington schools were on a two-hour delay because of Monday morning’s snowfall.
“The whole thing only lasted about five minutes,” Schools Superintendent Dan Lyons said. He said a note from Lylburn Downing’s principal was sent home to parents.