Brief lockdown for two Zephyrhills schools

ZEPHYRHILLS -- Zephyrhills High and Woodland Elementary schools were briefly locked down this afternoon while police investigated a report of an armed driver in the area.

Zephyrhills Police Sgt. Rob Perrault said a Zephyrhills High student reported seeing a gun tucked in the waistband of a driver leaving a school parking lot at 1:40 p.m. The administration decided to lock the school down as police searched the area. Nearby Woodland Elementary was also locked down as a precaution, and buses were temporarily held at Raymond B. Stewart Middle School.

But the vehicle wasn't found, Perrault said, so the lockdown was lifted around 2:20 p.m. and the students allowed to leave just 20 minutes after the high school's usual final bell.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Perrault at the Zephyrhills Police Department at (813) 780-0050 .

Jamal Thalji, Times staff writer