Gunman on ball field prompts lockdown at Groves High School

It was a scary ordeal for both Wylie Groves High School students and their parents this morning when a lockdown was announced over the PA system, reportedly because of a gunman on school's baseball fields.

The lockdown is over now. No one was injured.

"It was a very serious situation," Birmingham Public School Superintendent Dan Nerad said at a news conference following the lockdown.

One student told the Free Press the incident may have involved a former student who came to the school to commit suicide. Police would not comment on that information, neither would the superintendent.

According to Nerad, at 10:45 a.m. today, Birmingham police notified the school that there was a "despondent" person at the baseball field who may or may not be armed. The school announced a lockdown alert and notified anyone who was outside the school to come inside.

The lockdown lasted about 40 minutes.

"The adrenaline is still pumping. It was a scary experience," one student texted the Free Press from within the building, noting this his "first time in a real lockdown. The school has done well to prepare us."

The student, who the Free Press is not naming because he is a minor, said when the prerecorded announcement came over the PA:  "The teachers in the class just kinda stood still. They just kinda looked at each other."