All-Clear At Newsome High, No Gun Found

LITHIA -- Students at Newsome High School in east Hillsborough County spent most of Friday (13th) under lockdown as sheriff's deputies investigated a "potential threat" on campus.

Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister says a team of some two hundred deputies scoured the campus looking for a gun but found none. Those included patrol deputies, K9, SWAT Team, the bomb squad and crisis negotiators. Students were evacuated into secured areas as deputies conducted security screenings. Deputies finally dismissed students on a staggered basis. Those with cars were permitted to leave at 2:50 p.m. while others waited until 3:25 to be picked up by parents.

Newsome parents weren't allowed on campus during the lockdown. They were told to wait across the street at a shopping plaza.

The threat came in around 8:45 Friday morning on the Fortify Florida app. Chronister says eight tips were submitted to the app regarding Newsome.

Over the previous eight days, his deputies have investigated 111 school-based threats.

Chronister says detectives continue to investigate the origin of the threat. The sheriff's office released texts of a couple of the tips, which may have targeted a school administrator.

Elsewhere, Pasco deputies and New Port Richey police placed Gulf Middle School on "controlled campus" for much of the day, to investigate a threat that proved unfounded. Manatee deputies arrested a 15-year-old boy suspected of making several threats on Snapchat. Several Manatee public schools had extra law enforcement presence on campuses Friday.

Photos: HCSO