A school in south Marion County was put under “code red” on Monday afternoon after law enforcement authorities received reports of an individual walking on a nearby roadway with an item mistaken for a gun, just several hours after another student en route to an elementary school was found in possession of a firearm.
Belleview Middle School was put into a code red around dismissal time on Monday afternoon. Parents received a message confirming the code at around 4:10 p.m. The school’s regular dismissal is scheduled for 4:11 p.m. every day.
“Parents and families, we are just calling to let you know that dismissal will be delayed due to law enforcement activity in the area,” reads a part of the message delivered to parents.
In the message, the school relayed that it was in code red but gave no further information or details about the incident.
Multiple parents reported that the code red was lifted just minutes after it was issued, although this has not yet been confirmed by Ocala-News.com with the school or law enforcement authorities.
A code red means that there was an imminent threat to the school, such as a dangerous situation on or near campus. The threat required a full school lockdown so that law enforcement authorities could respond.
According to one deputy on the scene, someone allegedly reported that an individual was walking along SE 36th Avenue, outside of the school, with a gun. That report was deemed to be inaccurate.
Belleview Middle School is located at 10500 SE 36th Ave in Belleview.
This story is breaking and will be updated by Ocala-News.com as it progresses. Check back in the coming hours for updates.
The code red comes at the end of a school day that began with the arrest of student who brought a gun onto a bus traveling to an Ocala elementary school.
UPDATE: This story has been updated to include additional details about the incident as they have become available.