San Marcos High School lockdown lifted, students are safe, following ‘swatting’ incident

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.– The lockdown at San Marcos High School has been lifted according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff's searched the school determining it was safe from a hoax call of an active shooter. The incident began at 10:26 a.m. and the campus was searched and deemed safe by around 11:23 a.m.

School has been searched and is SAFE. Lockdown lifted. Parents should check in at the attendance office. https://t.co/RK9R7YG1HU

— PIO Raquel Zick (@SBSOPIO) April 3, 2023

The campus was under lockdown as Santa Barbara Sheriff's investigated what was called in as an active shooter.

The Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to the call within minutes.

Officials say deputies conducted a room-by-room search of the campus and found no shooter or injured parties. Santa Barbara Sheriff's determined the incident was a case of "swatting" and is actively working to identify the individual responsible for the call.

A parent who came to the scene was in tears.

Eliida Ybarra stood at the campus entrance and said, "I have one son here.   I heard shooting and I said 'oh my gosh'.  I am scared.  I am very scared." 

Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department Public Information officer Raquel Zick said, "we did issue a shelter in place and we had everybody locked down on the campus while deputies conducted a room by room search. They did not find anybody harmed, they did not find any active shooter or evidence of an active shooter on campus."

A student Freddie Gonzales said he was impressed with the response. "Yeah.   There's a lot, they responded fast."

Gustavo Durado said he was aware of what's happened in other areas and was concerned about it happening here. "It was a crazy experience.    I was in class yeah,   everything going on around the country.  Just being in  the situation. Kind of getting a feel for it. It's crazy," he said.

The Sheriff's Department says swatting calls are illegal and place the community in unnecessary danger.