Schools were placed under lockdown by police after a boy in fancy dress was mistaken for a man wielding a firearm.
Armed police were sent to Firth Road in Bognor Regis after receiving a report of a “man seen with a suspected firearm”, which then triggered a lockdown at nearby schools, including Regis School.
Several hours after police got the alert on Wednesday morning, the schools reopened and a police search was carried out of the area.
However, in the evening, Sussex Police revealed that the sighting was in fact a 14-year-old boy with a toy gun.
“Firstly, I’d like to reassure the community that we have identified the person who was subject to these reports, a 14-year-old local boy who was wearing fancy dress,” Sussex Police chief inspector Dave Groombridge said.
“We have visited him and his family, and can confirm he had a toy gun with him at the time; was not in possession of any offensive weapons.
“I appreciate this incident will have understandably caused concern in the community, however I am confident that those who called it into us did so with the best of intentions. Public safety is our priority, and due to the nature of the calls received, we deployed multiple units to the surrounding area.”
Police had earlier said they were responding to a “report of a man seen with a suspected firearm in Frith Road, Bognor”.
A mother whose child was at Regis School, one of the main schools affected by the incident, wrote on Facebook: “It [The Regis School] went into lockdown as a safety precaution. So they shut the school but parents could collect their kids. Like I did. Police were present and at other schools too.”
But police have now confirmed there is “no threat to the wider community”.
