AUSTIN, Texas — Austin ISD says Austin High School is safe after the campus was briefly placed on lockdown following a 911 call Wednesday morning.
The district said just before 10 a.m. that the campus was secure, and parents and other community members were asked to stay away to allow police to investigate. During a "secure" protocol, students and staff stay in place and no one is allowed in or out of the building.
At 10:10 a.m., AISD reiterated that the campus was safe and said officers were sweeping the building. The district also said that at this time, officials believe the 911 call was a false report of an emergency.
By 10:45 a.m., AISD police officers had finished sweeping the campus and determined it was safe. The secure protocol was lifted, and the campus began returning to normal operations.
On Wednesday afternoon, APD said the initial call was a reported bomb threat.
This comes one day after San Marcos High School went on lockdown after police received a threat to the school in a phone call. That threat turned out to be a hoax. While police are still investigating, no arrests have been made.
It also comes as authorities say there have been dozens of threats against local schools in recent weeks.
Last week, a sixth student was arrested in Hays CISD over threats. Meanwhile, Austin ISD Police Chief Wayne Sneed said 30 threats were made against Austin schools.
Travis County District Attorney José Garza said he has more than 30 cases pending now, with just two involving adults. He said while his office prosecutes threats every year, the sheer volume of what it's seeing now is alarming.
“Firearms are just too readily available to juveniles and to people who possess them illegally,” Garza said. “So as long as that is the case, we're going to have to take these cases incredibly seriously.”
Garza said regardless of age, if you commit a crime, you will be arrested. He also mentioned his office will be going through each case individually and determining whether there’s probable cause, since there’s a wide range of conduct being investigated.