Man reportedly seen with weapon near Pittsburgh elementary school, prompting lockdown

PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh elementary school was briefly placed on lockdown Tuesday afternoon after a man with a gun was reported to have been seen in the area, a Pittsburgh Public Schools spokeswoman said.

The precautionary lockdown was imposed about 1 p.m. at Pittsburgh Grandview K-5. District spokeswoman Ebony Pugh said sightings of the gun-wielding man were reported on McLain Street.

Police searched the area and parents of children who attend Grandview K-5 were alerted to the lockdown by an automated phone call from the school.

Meghan Bean said she left work to pick up her 7- and 9-year-old children after receiving the phone call.

“I normally don't pick them up. They usually go to the babysitter that's down the street,” Bean said. “It's just one of those things with all the school shootings, you think of Sandy Hook. I thought, I don't want to run the risk of the few blocks they have to walk.”

The lockdown was lifted by 1:45 p.m. No armed man was found in the area.

Cox Media Group