West Auckland schools closure lifted, police speak to person



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A security lockdown has been lifted at four West Auckland schools following concerns about a possible firearms incident.

Armed police were called to the scene on Archibald Rd in Kelston.

A police spokesman said a welfare concern report had been made after 2 p.m. in the Kelston area.

By 6 p.m., the police had located the person they were looking for in connection with the incident and were speaking with them.

Kelston Boys’ High School principal Adeline Blair confirmed that the school had been closed around 2:30 pm Tuesday as a “precaution.”

“Due to the proximity of this report, nearby schools were closed as a precaution,” confirmed the police spokesman.

The schools were Kelston Boys ‘High School, Kelston Girls’ High School, Kelston Intermediate, and St Leonards Road School.

The Kelston Community Early Childhood Center was also closed.

Kelston resident Akula Sharma said police knocked on her door Tuesday afternoon asking if she had seen anyone enter the home in front of her.

Police outside Kelston Girls' High School.

RICKY WILSON / Stuff

Police outside Kelston Girls High School.

“I hadn’t seen anyone and they didn’t tell me what had happened,” Sharma said.

Previously, parents of school students were sent text messages warning them not to email, call, or come to the school until the situation was resolved.

But at 3:30 pm, a police spokesman said the students from the schools were being released in a “gradual release” with the cooperation of the schools.

The family waits outside the St Leonards Road school in Kelston, which was closed after there were reports of a nearby incident.

RICKY WILSON / Stuff

The family waits outside St Leonards Road School in Kelston, which was closed after there were reports of a nearby incident.

It comes just one day after Lincoln Heights School in nearby Massey was closed due to a firearms incident.

Two people were arrested after the first incident on Keegan Drive, Massey, around noon Monday.

It is not known whether the incidents are related.

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