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By EMILY SPARACINO | Staff Writer

NORTH SHELBY – Authorities have located the person connected to an incident at Oak Mountain High School on Thursday, March 10 that involved reports of a student allegedly bringing a knife on campus.

“The juvenile from this morning’s Oak Mountain High School incident has been safely located and is currently detained,” read a post on the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page at about 6 p.m. March 10. “Based on an ongoing investigation, there is no evidence to suggest there are any other threats surrounding school safety at this time. Sheriff (John) Samaniego would like to thank all of our community members and partnering agencies for their valued assistance today.”

All Oak Mountain schools went into a firm lockdown early in the morning after a person was seen near OMHS with a knife.

According to Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Major Clay Hammac, the school resource officer with OMHS reported there was a white male wearing all black near the athletic fields at the high school apparently armed with a knife.

Hammac said the eye-witness account came in around 7:15 a.m. during school traffic hours.

At that point, all Oak Mountain-area schools went into lockdown, and a heavy law enforcement presence from several agencies, including aviation units, was put in place to help locate the suspect.

Hammac said there were no injuries, and the suspect wasn’t in the school.

The schools were moved to a soft lockdown with a strong police presence around the school.

“It was reported that a student entered Oak Mountain High School this morning with a knife. The student left the building on foot and the school immediately went into lockdown. At this time, the perimeter of the building is secure and multiple law enforcement is present conducting an investigation,” Cindy Warner with Shelby County Schools said on the morning of March 10. “Students have been released to class and are safe. We will update with more information as we receive it.”

Hammac said deputies remained at the school and maintained a presence throughout the day.