An elderly man wearing a hunting cap and carrying an umbrella.
A shell casing on the floor.
Both created panic at two Akron-area schools on Wednesday.
Police and school officials remain on edge with heightened security since last week’s deadly school shooting in Connecticut.
The man and an umbrella outside Hudson High School caused a brief lockdown at the school Wednesday morning when an employee mistook the umbrella for a rifle.
“After what happened Friday at Sandy Hook, it was understandable that everyone is on edge,” said Hudson High School principal Brian Wilch.
Staff members were attending a breakfast sponsored by the school parent-teacher organization at about 8 a.m. when an employee reported that a man parked his car and walked away carrying a coffee cup and an umbrella with a wooden handle that an employee thought looked like the stock of a rifle.
Staff members and 500 or 600 students of 1,600 students enrolled at the school were in the building at the time of the incident, Wilch said.
As part of the lockdown procedure, doors were immediately barricaded and an alert was sent to parents, Wilch said.
“Part of the agenda at the meeting was a review of our safety measures that are in place in light of the events of last Friday,” said Wilch.
Police responded quickly and got the man’s identification from the car’s license plate, Wilch said.
The lockdown was canceled as soon as the man was located, about 15 minutes after it began, he said.
And in Medina, authorities locked down Waite Elementary School Wednesday morning after an empty shell casing was found.
Medina Superintendent Randy Stepp alerted all parents in the district via email that the shell casing was found in the school’s lobby.
“We believe the casing was most likely brought in by a student and dropped out of a pocket or a book bag,” Stepp said.
Officers from Montville Township, Medina Township and the Medina County Sheriff’s Office responded to the school.
“The officers did an immediate search of the building, searching every room, coats, book bags, and desks,” Stepp said. “They found no other items such as the casing in the building.”
Stepp alerted parents Wednesday night of a second threat — this time at the high school for Friday.
‘‘We, along with Medina Police, have investigated the rumor and found it not to be credible,’’ he said. ‘‘The source of the rumor was identified and it was determined not to be legitimate.’’
No other details of the second threat were released.
