Just a few days after Righetti High School went on lockdown due to an anonymous threatening social media post, it happened again on Tuesday.
This time, both Righetti and St. Joseph High School, which are located just across the street from each other, were locked down after a student reported a suspicious person on the St. Joe campus, possibly armed with a firearm.
Dozens of anxious parents could be seen waiting along the perimeter of the St. Joseph campus Tuesday.
"It is a parent's worst nightmare," said Ruth Narez, the mother of a St. Joseph's High School student.
Narez says when she heard sirens, she and other parents quickly made their way to the school to check in on their kids.
Other parents said they remained in constant contact with their children over text.
"Getting a text message from my daughter letting us know that they were on lockdown and that it wasn't a drill was really scary considering everything that has been going on in Texas," mother Maria Perez told KSBY.
Perez said her daughter's classroom blacked out the windows so people couldn't see inside while also barricading the door so no one could get in.
"A parent's first instinct is, 'is my child okay?' and not knowing they are okay is really disheartening," Perez added.
While Santa Barbara County Sheriff's units conducted K9 sweeps of St. Joseph's classrooms, other authorities stepped just off campus to provide updates to the many parents who were waiting.
"There is no credible threat right now, it is just us being safe. The school has requested us to make sure there are no guns on campus, so we are going to do that methodically," a Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputy told parents.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff's PIO Raquel Zick said no weapon was found and no one was arrested. Sheriff's officials determined the report to be unfounded.
Both Righetti and St. Joseph lifted their lockdowns before 1:30 p.m. and resumed school as usual.
