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SYRACUSE — Syracuse Junior High and Syracuse Elementary initiated a lockdown Friday afternoon after police say a junior high employee mistook a passerby's cellphone clip for a gun.
About 1 p.m. Friday, a Syracuse Junior High School employee saw a man wearing a white shirt and jeans walking near the school. The employee saw a black object on the man's hip, thought it was a gun and called police, Syracuse police reported.
Officers responded to the junior high. The school and Syracuse Elementary, which is located across the street, were already on lockdown when police arrived. Police searched the schools and found nothing suspicious.
Surveillance video revealed the man was the 23-year-old sibling of a student at the junior high and the black object was a large cellphone clipped to his pocket, police said.
The man went to the junior high to take his sibling from the school. Investigators said the man did not check in with the school office before doing so, which is a violation of school policy.
Syracuse police said this event might have been prevented if the man properly followed the school's check-out procedure.