Police swarm Tauranga, school lockdown lifted

UPDATE 3.45pm: Tauranga Boys College was placed in lockdown this afternoon as police searched the area for several people who had been seen by a member of the public with what appeared to be firearms.

Police were called at 2:45pm to reports of two young men carrying what appeared to firearms on the corner of 15th Ave and Devonport Rd.

Police set up cordons and armed officers checked the area, including the grounds of the Tauranga Boys College.

No sign of the men or the guns was found and the school was cleared to re-open at about 3:30pm.

UPDATE 3.27pm: Students are now being let out of Tauranga Boys College after the school went into lockdown this afternoon.

Boys were told to stay inside, pull the curtains and lock the doors, before later being released by police.

Police swarmed on the school after reports of two people carrying what appeared to be guns on the corner of 15th Ave and Devonport Rd about 2.45pm.

EARLIER: Armed police have swooped near Memorial Park this afternoon after reports of two people carrying what looked like firearms.

Police Inspector Andy Brill said the two people were reported to police about 2.45pm, spotted on the corner of 15th Ave and Devonport Rd.

Tauranga Boys College has been put in temporary lockdown. Anxious parents are waiting outside to pick up their children from the school.

Police have cordoned off Devonport Rd, between 15th and 11th Ave.

A photographer at the scene says police stopped at the Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre, got their guns from the back of their cars, then continued down Fraser St.