Pittsburgh Police report ‘critical incident’ at Central Catholic High School

After about a half-hour of lockdown, Pitt police determined that the campus was safe to reopen. Pittsburgh Public Safety said in an initial alert that students and parents from Central and Oakland Catholic schools should gather at the Oakland Quad Cathedral of Learning. They later stated in an update that both schools “have been cleared and declared safe.”

Police issued an ENS alert Wednesday morning, warning the public of a “critical incident” at Central Catholic High School and advising them to avoid the area.

The police had placed the campus on lockdown.

Students reported taking refuge in Thackeray Hall, a nearby University building, Pitt News reported.

“Due to police activity near Central Catholic High School in Oakland, multiple bus routes traveling through the area are on detour. More information regarding detours will be posted as it becomes available,” Pittsburgh Regional Transit Alerts wrote in a tweet.

Central Catholic’s director of communications, Brian Cook, told WPXI News that they believe it’s a hoax but are taking the necessary steps to ensure it.

State police, according to KDKA, are investigating reports of active shooter threats in schools across the state that are thought to be “computer generated swatting calls.”

Video posted by a user showed officers in full tactical gears arriving at the scene.