An East High School student has been arrested on a charge of aggravated robbery in connection with reports Thursday afternoon of an armed person at the school.
At least two students had been detained in the incident, according to the Denver Police Department’s Twitter account.
Denver police said a “replica of a gun” was used in the aggravated robbery.
A lockdown at the school was lifted after police finished searching the school for weapons and cleared the building.
Police later discovered a BB gun in a vehicle parked near the school, according to a letter the school released to parents.
Students were released, but all after-school activities have canceled including the boys’ basketball game versus Regis Jesuit High School, Denver Public Schools said.
School is scheduled as normal Friday where a crisis team will be on hand, Denver Public Schools said.
A student told school officials that another student had showed what appeared to be a weapon around 1:40 p.m., said Will Jones, a Denver Public Schools spokesman.
No shots were fired, Denver police reported.
SWAT officers searched the building room by room and floor by floor, said Will Jones, a spokesman for Denver Public Schools. Most students were taken to an auditorium while some were told to stay in classrooms.
School was out at 1:15 p.m. because of an early dismissal, but many students were still in the building for extra study time, tutoring or extracurricular activities, Jones said.
The Denver Police Department said on its Twitter account just before 2 p.m. that it was responding to reports of person with a gun near the school.
Reports of the situation set off panic among parents, who flooded social media with questions for Denver police.
Israel Perez, who was waiting outside for his son and daughter, said he jumped up from his office desk and sped to the school when his children sent text messages about the lockdown.
His son reported being rushed into a classroom and being told to stay down.
“With everything going on lately, it’s kind of scary,” Perez said. “I just hope it’s a false alarm.”
He worried about how his children will feel about going to school on Friday.
The police department tried to assure anxious parents and tweeted a message saying it was taking “necessary precautions to ensure student/citizen safety.”
Police swarmed the area around the school, which is off of East Colfax Avenue. Some students were waiting outside the school for updates.
Miles LaBarge, an East High School junior, was waiting outside for his brother, who was sending him text messages from inside.
Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661, nphillips@denverpost.com or @Noelle_Phillips
