Report Of Man With Gun Leads To Lockdown Of Tampa Elementary School

TAMPA, FL — Shaw Elementary School in Tampa was temporarily placed on lockdown Friday morning after a man appeared on the school campus, frantically banging on the front door of the administrative building, saying he was being chased by someone with a gun.

According to Tampa police, a staff member at the school said the man began banging on the door around 8:40 a.m., asking to be let in. Out of fear, the staff member pushed her Centegix crisis alert button, which all school employees wear daily, prompting the lockdown.

The man who had been banging on the door, James Oscar Williams, 44, was told to leave the school property. Instead, police said he ran to a separate school entrance, attempting once again to get inside the school. He then jumped a fence onto the school property next to the door.

A Hillsborough County schools security officer intercepted Williams who continued to claim a man with a gun was chasing him. The security officer said Williams had cuts on his hands and a small amount of blood on his T-shirt from jumping the fence of a nearby home as he was fleeing from the "man with the gun."

Tampa police searched the school campus at 11311 N 15th St. and the surrounding area and found no one matching Williams' description. No gunshots were reported and there was no indication that a weapon was ever on campus, Tampa police said.

Williams was arrested for trespassing on school property and may be referred for a mental health evaluation.

The lockdown at Shaw Elementary was lifted after less than an hour.