Evanston police say two guns were recovered at Evanston Township High School Thursday morning and that the school is on lockdown at this hour.
Police Cmdr. Ryan Glew says there is not an active shooter incident at the school, that no shots have been fired and there have been no injuries.
He says police believe that all individuals involved in the incident have been located and are being detained by police.
He says there are no ongoing incidents at other private and public schools in Evanston.
Update 12 p.m.: Streets around the school remain closed to traffic and the school remains on lockdown.
In addition to numerous Evanston police cars, the incident brought police from several other communities — as far away as Glencoe and Niles — to assist with traffic control around the school.
Update 1:30 p.m.: By early this afternoon the lockdown order was lifted and students were leaving the ETHS campus.
At a media briefing, Cmdr. Glew said the incident began when a school resource officer was alerted that students were smoking cannabis in a school bathroom.
The SRO and school safety staff responded and detained several students and discovered two handguns which led to the lockdown order.
At the briefing, interim City Manager Kelley Gandurski said the situation “could have been tragic except for the quick response and brave action of the police officers and safety personnel at ETHS.”
Gandurski said a previously scheduled special City Council meeting on Monday will address “gun violence and community outreach.”