"I think it was quite close," Ren, one of the teachers at the centre, said. "We saw the police going down the road quite fast.
"The helicopter was around and we saw heaps of police cars and decided to bring the children in the room.
"We decided to lock all the doors and pull all the curtains down. Then the police came to us and let us know that we needed to go under a lockdown procedure."
Armed police at the scene of a shooting incident on Reynella Drive. Photo / Michael Craig
The children played happily inside as if it were a rainy day, Ren said.
Once in lockdown, the centre texted the children's parents to let them know they had locked up but that they were all safe and well.
At around 3.05pm they were informed by the Ministry of Education it was all right to end the lockdown, Ren said.
Children and teachers alike were all doing fine following the incident, Ren said.
"We are alright, just followed the normal routine," she said. "Lots of parents have called in to see that all the staff and children are alright.
"In our procedures, if it's an emergency and it's needed, we might hide under the table but we didn't do that. It was not necessary.
"They [the children] were just playing inside with all the teachers ... They were playing nicely and were quite happy. It was just like a normal rainy day."
Ren didn't hear any gunshots before they entered the lockdown, however, Reynella Drive resident Elaine Taniela thought she did.
