'Shelter In Place' Lifted At Temecula School [UPDATED]

TEMECULA, CA — Students at a Temecula Valley Unified School District campus were temporarily asked to shelter in place on Friday morning due to police activity, officials say. Great Oak High School was not on lockdown; rather, students were asked to limit movement on site, according to a District representative.

"There is no immediate threat to the campus," Temecula Valley Unified School District Spokesman Laura Boss told Patch. "It's just a protocol that we are following with police to shelter in place right now."

Temecula Police said in a statement that the shelter-in-place order was lifted around 11:15 a.m.

"[A]ll students are safe, and no students have been determined to be at risk at this time," police said in a Facebook post. "The investigation is ongoing and we appreciate your patience. We will update you as soon as we are able to release additional information."

Sheriff's officials told Patch they were investigating a possible threat but "it's been determined that it was out of the area."

District officials released the following statement on the incident:

Based on a social media post brought to our attention shortly before 10 am this morning, both Great Oak administration and the School Resource Officer transitioned our staff to a Shelter in Place protocol during third period today.

This procedure creates a campus environment where every student and staff member is accounted for behind a locked door. Instruction continues while the situation is being evaluated by administration and law enforcement. Upon completing our investigation and tracking the origin of the social media post, no threat to our campus was identified and the Shelter in Place was lifted within one class period.

Our students and staff responded to the communication in a timely manner and our campus safety procedures were followed and classroom instruction continued while we investigated. Students are continuing on with their day and moving to their next class. Students are safe and finishing up their Friday of instruction.

Please know that we always do our best to inform families immediately of any issues or concerns on campus. However, we need time to properly investigate situations that come to our attention so we have the most accurate information to provide our staff, parents, and community. We appreciate your understanding.

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Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone