Students at Pickerington Local Schools head back to class Thursday after someone phoned in a violent threat.
Pickerington North High School was put on lockdown on Wednesday.
Detectives tell 10TV the call was made via cell phone, but were not able to locate the person who made the call.
Deputies say a man with a thick Arabic accent called Pickerington North High School claiming he was coming to the school with an assault rifle to commit violence because of unrest in the Middle East.
The school then went into immediate lockdown and parents rushed to the school to make sure their kids were safe. The school held a controlled release of students beginning at 1:55 p.m. and the Fairfield County Sheriff's deputies were on hand to escort the students from the building.
“My son texted me they were on lockdown in the gym and he’s afraid,” said concerned parent Nicole McNair.
Police cars line Pickerington High School North on Wednesday.
Students huddled in their classrooms not knowing what the lockdown was about. “We were in the dark. They said it was an outside, controlled situation,” explained student Grace Alexson. She says when the lock down was announced students began to prepare. "Some of us barricaded our doors because we heard lockdown and it wasn’t a drill. We just got away from all the doors, locked the doors and stayed behind objects.”
Students texted their parents with constant updates on their safety. “(My daughter) said they just started shoving them in the classrooms, turning off lights. They put the girls behind tables and gave the boys' 2 x 4s and metal rods,” said parent Jessica Faryman.
Deputies outside worked to make sure the caller never carried out his threat. He had told the school he lives in the area.
The district says it's trained students on how to react during an active shooter scenario, and today they say their training paid off.
It's still unclear who made the call or where it came from.
Deputies were patrolling the school grounds Thursday to make sure the students were safe.
