Songs keep pupils busy in lockdown

Relieved parents are reunited with their children. Photo / Natalie Slade

Staff and pupils at an Auckland school were forced into lockdown yesterday as police searched for a man reportedly carrying a firearm.

The Henderson 46-year-old was seen near Blockhouse Bay School around 2.30pm.

Armed police and the police Eagle helicopter were called in.

The school was locked down for about two hours while police searched for the gunman. A man was arrested, and just before 5pm, police told the staff and pupils they could go home.

Principal Neil Robinson said officers arrived around 2.50pm and told staff the school needed to go into lockdown.

"There was a man of concern in the area and they didn't want to release the children out in that environment."

The teachers and children knew what to do as they had done lots of lockdown drills before, he said.

The children were in good spirits and were not frightened by the high police presence.

"They were singing songs and doing activities. Some of the little ones didn't realise it was after 3pm.

"The teachers did a really good job of keeping them busy. I reassured them too that the police were doing a good job of keeping them safe," he said.

Around 150 parents who gathered on pick-up time were moved into the staff room and a number waited behind a cordon outside the school.

It is understood the gunman was one of a group who left Henderson Valley, West Auckland, after an earlier incident.

- NZPA