BATON ROUGE — A potential threat at Tara High School turned out to be a hoax after police and the sheriff's office responded to a report of a student with a gun Monday morning.

Administrators put the school on lockdown, and students were temporarily evacuated while law enforcement swept inside.

"We received a dispatch call relative to a juvenile saying he had a gun and wanted to hurt himself and others, and he gave us a name," Lt. L'jean McKneely said.

Officials in Plaquemine reportedly responded to a similar situation over the weekend at their high school.

According to officials, the call came from an out-of-state number.

"Those particular persons, we find out who they are; they live in other states. They could face prosecution for terrorizing," McKneely said. "They call from different areas. This particular call came from an out-of-state number, so we're going to backtrack to see if we can find out who that person is, and that person could face consequences."

Superintendent Lamont Cole, who was recently indicted on corruption charges, was on scene but would not answer questions. However, Cole temporarily interrupted a WBRZ interview with McKneely when he pulled over alongside our rolling camera and asked him a question. When asked if he had anything to say, Cole rolled up his window and drove off. 

Despite no credible threat, the uncertainty in the early minutes generated anguish among parents and neighbors nearby.

"Fear...anxiety...not knowing what was happening," Johnette Smith said.

Smith's granddaughter is a student at Tara and spoke to her briefly during the lockdown.

"She just was scared, and they didn't know what was happening," Smith said. "Police just started knocking on the classroom doors telling everyone to get down, and so what do you think?"

Smith said even though it was a prank this time, she believes the school has its own issues with violence.

"There are fights every day," Smith said. "I don't ask my children anymore when they get in the car, 'How was your day?' [It's] 'What annoyed you the most?'"