A lockdown was lifted at the College of the Canyons’ Valencia campus Wednesday after officials determined there was no armed woman at the school.
Students were told they could leave campus just before 6:45 p.m., about an hour and a half after the lockdown was put in place.
6:42 The Valencia Campus lockdown has been lifted. If you are sheltering in place, you may now leave the campus. All evening classes at the Valencia campus are still cancelled. Canyon Country Campus classes will proceed as planned.
— CollegeoftheCanyons (@canyons) January 17, 2019
Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials were called at about 4:35 p.m. regarding a woman in her 20s carrying a rifle near the Valencia campus, located at 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road, Lt. Leo Bauer said.
The caller said they saw a woman retrieve a rifle from a tree and walk onto campus. But it was later determined the woman had only removed branches from the tree, sheriff’s officials later said in a tweet.
Deputies had responded to the school and went building to building to search for the armed woman.
About 2,000 students and 200 staff members had been under lockdown, according to the Sheriff’s Department. But because the school is currently on winter session, there were not many people on campus as usual, Bauer said.
Still, the school canceled all classes on campus for the remainder of the evening. Classes would go on as scheduled at the Canyon Country campus, which sits about 10 miles east on Sierra Highway.
The Valencia campus covers more than 150 acres, according to the COC website. About 32,150 students are enrolled across the college’s two locations.
KTLA’s Nidia Becerra contributed to this report.
ADVISORY: College of the Canyons, Valencia campus is currently on lockdown. Deputies are conducting safety checks of buildings. pic.twitter.com/aq6NlHJ1HW
— SCV Sheriff (@SCVSHERIFF) January 17, 2019
UPDATE: College of the Canyons Deputies still on campus conducting safety checks. Approx. 200 staff, 2,000 students on lockdown. So far, nothing deemed suspicious has been found. Thank you for your patience. It will take time to check all bldgs. Safety is our #1 priority. pic.twitter.com/lECjgxUtGh
— SCV Sheriff (@SCVSHERIFF) January 17, 2019
Re: COC incident- we received a report initially that an individual saw a woman getting a rifle out of tree and went on campus. Through investigation, it was determined that a woman took tree branches from a tree. Better safe, than sorry. Have a good night SCV. pic.twitter.com/LiA5XKBU2J
— SCV Sheriff (@SCVSHERIFF) January 17, 2019