Mount View High School in Thorndike briefly locked out students as a safety precaution Tuesday morning after a report to police that a student waiting to board a school bus in Freedom was holding a gun.

Police later determined the student had been holding a pellet gun and had not taken it onto the school bus.

The school went into lockout from about 7:45 to 8:15 a.m. after receiving a report from police, according to Heather Perry, superintendent of Regional School Unit 3. A 911 caller reported that a young man was at the end of a driveway in Freedom, apparently waiting for a school bus, and was holding a handgun, according to a news release from the Waldo County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s deputies stopped the bus and removed the student, according to the release.

Police said the student had been in possession of a pellet gun before he got on the bus, but had left the gun at home before getting on board.

The school was in lockout while police investigated the incident, meaning students were organized outside the school building.

“Everything turned out to be just fine,” Perry said. “We received the all clear, and we came out of lockout and resumed normal activities.”

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