Report of man with gun near Mountain View HS prompts lockdown, then ‘secure’ status; police search finds no one

(Update: Details of report about man with gun near school; no one was found)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A report of a man possibly carrying a pistol near the Mountain View High School football and baseball fields prompted a brief lockdown before classes began Tuesday morning and a subsequent “secure status” for about a half-hour, but no one matching the description was found, authorities said.

Bend Police responded to the report of a person possibly armed with a gun near the football and baseball fields, Communications Manager Sheila Miller said.

A caller around 8:25 a.m. reported seeing a white man in his early 20s, wearing a white shirt and a blue baseball bat and possibly carrying a pistol, Miller said.

A Bend Police school resource officer was on scene at the time of the call, and Bend Police, along with Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies, responded to the area.

The school initially went into lockdown, but that was changed to a secure status, with the front door as the only entrance for those arriving to start the school day.

A BLConnect text indicated the secure protocol was called “for a potential safety threat outside. Front entrance is open for students to enter.”

“Secure is our protocol used to safeguard people within the building,” a subsequent text stated. “Students are proceeding to their first class of the day.” A few minutes later, the follow-up text said: "Students and staff are safe, and school is in session as usual."

Police used drones to search the area, and officers in vehicles and on foot searched the school campus, as well as the parking lot and surrounding neighborhoods, Miller said. No one matching the description was found.

The school left secure mode shortly after 9 a.m.

Miller said SROs and other police remained on scene to ensure there is no threat to students and staff. An increased police presence may continue throughout the day.BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Mountain View High School went into a brief lockdown, then an outer doors-locked “secure” status Tuesday morning due to “a potential safety threat outside” the building, officials said. The front entrance remained open and classes began as usual.

Bend-La Pine Schools Communication Director Scott Maben said the school was “briefly in a lockdown” around 8:30 a.m., before classes began, then transitioned into the “secure” mode, where “the doors are locked, but school is happening as usual inside. We’re not allowing people to come and go.”

We’ll have updates as we get them.