Batavia High School cleared after reports of person with rifle

SUN TIMES MEDIA WIRE - What was reported as a person entering Batavia High School with a rifle Monday morning may actually have been a student with a baseball bat or umbrella, according to police.

At 6:03 a.m., a citizen came to the Batavia Police Department to report a male dressed in black entering the high school at 1201 Main Street, Batavia Police Deputy Chief Shawn Mazza said during a press briefing. The person was reportedly wearing a backpack and may have been armed with a rifle.

No gunman was found and the school was cleared shortly before 8:30 a.m., police said.

“We’ve just finished a complete, thorough search of the interior of the building and were not able to locate anything,” Mazza said.

“At this point, going back and looking at surveillance, it looks like the person that was probably picked out as going in with a rifle was a student, probably carrying either a baseball bat, a baseball player carrying a baseball bat, or possibly an umbrella,” Mazza added.

A message on the school’s website initially said that no one would be allowed inside the school “until further notice” while police investigated.

An administrator with Batavia Public School District 101 said the school will have a late start Monday morning, with classes expected to begin at 10:51 a.m.