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An elementary school in northeast Minneapolis was placed on lockdown Thursday after a person threatened to shoot people at the school. 

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said a person called Waite Park Elementary School shortly before 11 a.m. Thursday, and said he was planning to come to the school with a rifle and shoot “everything he sees moving.”

O’Hara said police officers and a SWAT team responded to the school. They identified the caller as a man with ties to two people at the school, who also had a residence within two miles of the building. Authorities then tracked his license plate and found his car was in Missouri. 

Police collaborated with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in Missouri and federal law enforcement officials to locate the man. He was arrested in Missouri on Thursday afternoon.

O’Hara said no one was hurt, and police stayed at the school until all students could go home.

Thursday’s threat and lockdown happened about a month after the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in south Minneapolis.

“We are well aware that there’s extreme fear and anxiety from students, parents, teachers and staff,” O’Hara said. “Many are still very anxious, as we are, in the recent shadow of the Annunciation church shooting.”

O’Hara said the department takes all threats seriously.

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Estelle Timar-Wilcox

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An elementary school in northeast Minneapolis was placed on lockdown Thursday after a person called and threatened to shoot people at the school. No one was hurt, and suspect was arrested in Missouri. 

Person arrested after allegedly making threats against Minneapolis elementary school

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