Philip Randolph school incident: Manhattan high school on lockdown over 'possible student with gun'

New York schools go into lock down mode when a high school student believes she sees a male student with a firearm

Multiple schools in New York City went into lock down mode on Thursday afternoon after police detained a person originally believed to have been holding a firearm inside a Manhattan high school.

No active shooter situation was reported by the New York Police Department, and reports indicated a weapon had not been immediately discovered. Police responded to a call from the A. Philip Randolph high school in Manhattan where a female student reportedly observed a male student carrying a firearm.

The high school went into lock down mode, followed by the nearby City College of New York, as police continued to investigate the incident.

High school students filmed themselves inside of locked classrooms, streaming the incident in real-time to the Citizen app, which provides updates about crime based on user location.

The City College went into lock down shortly after a tweet was posted by the Graduate Centre of the City University of New York, which is next door to the Philip Randolph high school, alerting of a “possible high school student with a gun”.

“Stay indoors,” the message read.

By Thursday afternoon, no injuries or arrests had been reported. It was unclear whether the person detained at the high school remained in custody or was facing any charges.

The NYPD did not immediately respond to enquiries.

New York was one of the first states to pass gun control laws in the wake of the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school massacre, with the New York Secure ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act — otherwise known as the NY SAFE Act — going into effect in 2013.