2 Lockdowns At NJ High School; Weapons Seized

NEW JERSEY – A New Jersey high school had two lockdowns on Friday, and weapons were seized in one of the incidents, prosecutors said.

The first lockdown occurred on Friday morning at Union High School when it was discovered that two students had weapons inside the school building, according the Union County Prosecutor's Office.

Union Police Department personnel responded and seized both a knife and hammer, and the two students were removed from the premises, prosecutors said. The first lockdown was then lifted.

A second lockdown was imposed by school security personnel later Friday morning when authorities received a report that a student may have had a firearm inside the building.

As rumor spread through the student body, a large group of students ran from the building prior to the arrival of law enforcement, resulting in an inadvertent injury to one student during the flight, prosecutors said.

Union Police Department personnel responded to the scene, and were supported by the Union County Prosecutor's Office, Union County Police Department, Union County Emergency Response Team, and officers from the K-9 units of the Union, Somerset, and Middlesex County Sheriff's Departments and the State Park Police.

Given the incident at the school earlier in the day, and the nature of the threat that gave way to the second lockdown, law enforcement conducted a sweep of the building, prosecutors said.

When the building was deemed secure, the school released the students through a safe and orderly dismissal.

The matter remains under investigation by the Union Police Department.