MAGEE, Miss. ( WJTV ) – Faculty at Magee High School worked with Magee police to quickly mitigate a potential threat on Tuesday.

Officials said a school employee noticed a man walking near the school with a machete and called police. They said the school went into lockdown and followed safety protocols.

Magee police said they were able to locate the man, who was identified as Willie Jones, walking away from the school with the machete still in hand. Jones was arrested for felony possession of methamphetamine and transported to the police department.

Officials with the school district and the police department said they’re well-equipped to respond to a threat, and they want parents to know their children are safe at school.

“Last year, we did a role-play, active shooter trainer at one of our elementary schools so that teachers could really get a feel for something if it were to happen. We have practice sessions, so we may go in and say, ‘Okay, well, we have an active shooter,’ just to see. So, we do drills, and we talk to the teachers. Each school has a team that immediately goes into action once something happens,” said Dr. Furlinda Travis, assistant superintendent of Human Resources and Operations at the Simpson County School District.

“We always need to be prepared because you just may never know. Ninety-percent of the time you may never get a call to a school. But there’s that five to 10-percent of times where something serious may happen, and so, we really need to be prepared,” said Magee Police Chief Denis J. Borges.

No one was injured during Tuesday’s incident.

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