B.B. Gun Incident, False Rumors Clear Out Hill Health, Lock Down School

Hill Health Center was cleared out Monday afternoon and Roberto Clemente School placed under lockdown amid what turned out to be an inaccurate report of an active shooter in the area.

The series of events started shortly before 1 p.m.

A scuffle took place at Howard and Columbus in front of Robert Clemente, where a masked man was attempting to rob a pizza deliverer, according to a witness. The masked man pulled out a b.b gun and fired a shot; a pellet struck a school nurse’s office’s window.

The pizza deliverer was able to drive off. There was no blood in the street.

The school went into lockdown. Then the lockdown was lifted.

Until word of the incident, or a version of it, reached Hill Health Center down the street. The center went into lockdown.

An employee texted his wife, who misunderstood the information and called 911 to report an active shooter at Hill Health. That caused Hill Health to clear out the building.

As part of protocol, employees of the clinic and patients were now told to exit the building because of a ​“code grey,” which stands for an active shooter.

That in turn caused Roberto Clemente School down the street to return to a modified lockdown around 2 p.m. It was lifted around 2:10 p.m.

Then around 2:20 Hill Health employees and patients returned to the building.

“We’re still looking” for the man with the b.b. gun,” Reyes reported.

It was all a misunderstanding, Acting Police Chief Otoniel Reyes reported at the scene. ​“There is no issue here.”

He said police are still looking for the masked b.b. gunman.