A search of Forest Lake High School and the grounds turned up empty Friday morning after an intruder alert forced local police and school officials to lock down Forest Lake High School, Century Junior High School and the District Office Building for just under an hour.

Forest Lake Chief of Police Clark Quiring said police were called by the high school at 7:33 a.m. after a suspicious male was believed to have entered the high school on the east side of the building near the agriculture department. Quiring said the male was first observed inside Century Junior High School. Quiring said the person who diid not belong in the junior high school was asked to leave by school personnel.

It is believed the man walked across Goodview Avenue and may have entered the high school. Quiring said high school personnel asked for police assistance in searching the building after being called by Century officials reporting that the unwanted male may have gone into the high school.

The man was described as a white male with a dark complexion wearing a gray sweat shirt and a white baseball cap. He is believed to be in his  early 20s.

No weapon was observed, Sgt. Greg Weiss told the Forest Lake Times. As of 9 a.m. Friday, Weiss said police have no eyewitness confirmation that the unwanted male was actually inside the high school.

Quiring said it may be the case that the suspect kept walking and did not enter the school, or if he did enter the building, he may have walked through the school without lingering. Dogs were not used to search the school, he said, because staff and students were already inside. No suspicious vehicles have been located,  Weiss said.

School buildings were locked down under prescribed school policies for such situations, Quiring and Weiss said. Weiss had praise for how well the school policy worked in quickly and effectively sealing off the building and grounds.

The suspicious person alert came in as students were starting to arrive at the two schools. Some 50 students were inside the high school when the building was locked down, police said. They were held in secure locations within the school. Students were also reported to be in their vehicles in the school parking lot where they were asked to remain. Buses arriving with students remained in the parking lots with students held on the buses.

Some 30 police officers responded to the call. Forest Lake Police Department officers were joined at the two schools by Minnesota State Patrol Troopers, deputies from the Washington County, Anoka County and Chisago County sheriff's offices. City police from Wyoming and Lino Lakes also joined in securing entrances to the school, combing the grounds and searching the school. 

Students were released from their buses and vehicles and allowed to enter the school after the all-clear signal was given around 8:30 a.m. The school district reported late Friday morning that the Central Learning Center, more than one mile from the high school, was also locked down as a result of the high school incident.

Because school buses were forced to wait at the high school and Century, the start of the elementary school day was delayed one hour, school officials said. 

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