An Oakland middle school was put on lockdown for two hours on Tuesday morning after an empty paintball gun was found on campus - a toy that someone in the neighborhood thought was an assault weapon.
Oakland Unified spokesman Troy Flint that just before 8:30 a.m., someone at the Rockridge BART station got a call from a tipster who said that three students were walking toward Claremont Middle School on College Avenue, and one of them put what appeared to be an "assault weapon" into a green backpack.
Co-principals Reggie and Ronnie Richardson called police and initiated a lockdown. Officers searched the campus room to room, but didn't find anything and cleared the scene at 10:15 a.m.
Flint said officers were tipped off to a school portable where they found an unloaded, empty paintball gun, which was buried on school grounds.
Flint said district officials believe the paintball gun belongs to a Claremont Middle School student, but they have not determined who owns it.
