Mason County schools experiences shooting scare

There was a scare at the North Mason School District's upper campus in Belfair on Wednesday, with a report of a possible active shooter on the campus that turned out to be false, according to officials.

Mason County Sheriff Casey Salisbury said deputies were at North Mason High School Wednesday morning, responding to a report of a student carrying a gun. While they investigated that call, another person reported there was a shooter at Hawkins Middle School, which is close to the high school. Salisbury said it's not clear if the second call was a hoax, or the result of rumors.

"Any time you have a call that's involving the possibility of an active shooter, we have to go every time just as if it's actually happening," he said.

The district's upper campus stayed in lockdown for most of the school day as a precaution in case the reports were accurate. Superintendent Dana Rosenbach said no active shooter was found, but rumors of one spread quickly.

"It's about the scariest call we can get, and I know that there was a lot of chatter on social media that wasn't true, that scared a lot of our parents, so I would ask them to look to law enforcement and look to us for the accurate information," she said.

Students were sent home when the lockout ended Wednesday afternoon.

Salisbury says no arrests have been made and no firearms have been found. The investigation is ongoing.