A student brought a toy handgun to school which looked so much like a weapon it triggered a lockdown at the Iberia Campus of SLCC.
Here's the message that students forwarded to us. Their emails indicate it was sent at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday.
"EMERGENCY: There is an emergency situation on SLCC’s New Iberia Campus. If you are on this campus, go to the nearest room (or stay in your existing location), lock the door, and await further instructions from emergency personnel. If you are not on campus, stay away until notified of an “all clear” from campus officials or local authorities. Standby for additional messages regarding this incident."
We reached out to the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office, and they confirmed that there was a situation at the school.
"IPSO deputies are working the case right now. There is no threat to the community," a spokesperson said.
SLCC officials sent us this timeline:
- A student was spotted via a surveillance camera wielding what looked like a gun in the New Iberia campus’ parking lot.
- SLCC Office of Safety & Security relayed that the student was not hostile, but as a precaution, they issued a lockdown of the campus and contacted the local authorities.
- The student departed campus on a bus.
- Authorities arrived and cleared the lockdown.
- Officers reported back to us that they tracked down the individual and confirmed that he did not have a weapon, but instead a toy that was confused for a weapon.
We'll update this story as more information is received.
