ROLESVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) – Rolesville High School has announced a staff member stopped a student who had a loaded gun, leading to a code red lockdown earlier on Wednesday.

A statement from the high school, it said in part, “This morning at 10:47 a.m., a staff member observed a student outside of class. The staff member stopped the student, and during the process, they were found in possession of a loaded firearm. The firearm was confiscated.”

The school said they immediately ended the code red lockdown. The district says immediate threats to school will prompt a code red lockdown. Under that measure, students are moved into safe areas and all interior doors are locked.

In a release, the school says they downgraded to a code yellow at 12:30 p.m. and saw dismissal of all students beginning at 1:15 p.m. Code yellows are incidents in the community that may pose a threat to the school.

Through much of this, parents and students remained in the dark about the situation.

“I got a text [from my daughter] that they’re on a Code Red. I asked if it was a drill or the real thing. She said ‘Real thing’. I told her to stay safe,” said Natasha Burnette, a mother of a 10^th grader. 

School administrators alerted parents to the lockdown, by stating there was a “security concern.” 

“My heart just sank, you know, you get emotional,” added Burnette.

“We’re all just clueless and sitting here,” said Crystal Rhoades, a parent of a freshman. 

No one was able to leave or get onto campus, as Rolesville Police and the Wake County Sheriff’s Office investigated.

Even students who left school to grab lunch were left in the dark and out of their classrooms. 

“Our friends started texting us, asking us where are we, if we’re ok, and if we made it to safety,” said Bryan Saravia, a senior at Rolesville High School. “We’re like yeah, we’re just eating at McDonald’s.”

School officials said federal law prohibit the sharing of specific information about the student involved, but they will be automatically suspended for 365 days, per North Carolina law.

The investigation remains ongoing with the Rolesville Police Department, the Wake County Sheriff’s Department and the WCPSS Security Department.

Parents told CBS17 these lockdowns are happening too frequently.

“I think this is at least the second time we’ve had an incident like this, this school year,” said Rhoades.

They hope school district leaders make some changes to keep students safer.

“I don’t think there should be metal detectors, but at the end of the day, I do think they should be back to checking backpacks,” added Rhoades.

“Kids shouldn’t have to deal with this. They should be just able to get to school, get an education and come home,” said Burnette. “We shouldn’t have to worry if they’re going to live or not while they’re at school.”