Ridgefield Schools Locked Down Following Reports Of Suspicious Person Near Connecticut Town

Ridgefield, Conn., schools were locked down following unconfirmed reports of a suspicious person near a local train station Monday morning.

Capt. Tom Comstock of the Ridgefield Police told the Connecticut Post that a motorist reported seeing a white man, wearing all black, "walking on Route 7 with a rifle swung over his back."

Police and a K-9 unit continued to search the vicinity of Branchville train station, but no threat had been uncovered as of 10:10 a.m., according to Ridgefield Patch.

Ridgefield schools superintendent Deborah Low issued a statement this morning, outlining security precautions:

"Due to a report of a possibly suspicious person in the Branchville Train Station area, all schools have been put into lockdown. Branchville Elementary school busses have been diverted to East Ridge Middle School and BES students are in the auditorium."

A Connecticut State Police spokesperson told The Huffington Post that local police were handling the investigation with the assistance of state police. A Ridgefield Police spokesperson said that the investigation was ongoing but that Ridgefield schools "remained in lockdown" as of 11 a.m.

Police said that schools in nearby Redding, Conn., were also closed as a precaution following the report.

The incident comes three days after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, in which a gunman killed 20 children, six adults and then himself, in Newtown, Conn., approximately 20 miles from Ridgefield.