Report of rifle places Poplar Bluff High in lockdown

POPLAR BLUFF -- Poplar Bluff High School was placed on lockdown Tuesday morning after a teacher saw a man walking near campus with what appeared to be a rifle.

Police and school officials said they did not believe students were in danger but initiated the lockdown as a precautionary measure. The lockdown went in to effect at 8:05 a.m. and was lifted at 9:10 a.m.

"We had an employee that noticed a suspicious figure walking away from the school, west on (Route) PP," said Superintendent Chris Hon. "That employee notified the police department. The police department notified our SROs (school resource officers), and we determined for safety and as a precaution to go into lockdown."

The person was described as a white male dressed in black and possibly in possession of a rifle. About 20 officers were stationed at the high school as Poplar Bluff Police, Butler County deputies, Missouri State Highway Patrol and John J. Pershing VA Medical Center police gathered information and surveillance footage from area businesses.

"We are interviewing businesses up and down the highway where this individual could be seen. We are trying to track him down as rapidly as possible, and that takes manpower," said Poplar Bluff Police Deputy Chief Jeff Rolland said of bringing in additional law-enforcement officers.

During the lockdown, no students were allowed off campus, and the public was not permitted to enter.

The Black River Coliseum was established as a place where parents could get updates.

"We freeze everything in place," Rolland said. "We start doing security checks, no one comes on campus, no one goes off campus. The school uses technology to push out information on the Internet and cellphones. We establish the coliseum as a rally point for parents. We can't have everybody to the school system or the facilities. That would be mass chaos."

Whether the object carried by the individual was a firearm or a similar-looking device remained unconfirmed Tuesday.