Officials say there was never a threat at 71st High, Classical Middle schools

Brief lockdowns at Fayetteville's Seventy-First High School and Seventy-First Classical Middle School were quickly lifted Friday morning after law enforcement responded to the Raeford Road schools on a report of an unknown individual on campus that morphed into reports of an active shooter, according to officials.

"Officers have confirmed there is no active shooter at either school. There is no active threat," a Fayetteville Police Department news release said.

The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office further explained the conflicting reports, noting the shots fired report was unfounded.

"While 71st High School was on lockdown, several students contacted their parents about the lockdown and gave erroneous information to them. That led to several 911 calls about a possible shooter at 71st High School," a Sheriff's Office news release said.

Cumberland County Schools spokesman Lindsay Whitley said the unknown person reported at the school at 8:55 a.m. was later determined to be a school employee.

"After (law enforcement's) investigation, we learned that it was a false alarm, and the individual who was reported as 'unknown' was actually a staff member at the school. While there were rumors of an active shooter and/or weapons on campus this morning, the investigation determined the information was false," Whitley said.

"There was never a legitimate threat at 71st High School, nor were shots fired," the Sheriff's Office said.

The schools were in lockdown just shy of an hour, according to Whitley.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fayetteville police dispel shots fired report at 71st High campus