Report of possible masked gunman forced lockdown at Chapel Hill school, police say.

A man reported to be wearing a mask and possibly carrying a gun forced a lock down Thursday afternoon at Culbreth Middle School, police said Friday.

Chapel Hill police officers responded to the area of Fan Branch Lane at 12:18 p.m. after getting a report about the suspicious man near the school, according to a news release.

This report came in as students were being released because of Hurricane Dorian.

Culbreth was placed on lock down until officers determined the man had been removing personal belongings from a car and had put the mask on instead of carrying it. There was no gun involved and there was no threat to the school or neighborhood at any time, the release said.

Police did not say what kind of mask the man was wearing.

Officers remained at the school to help manage traffic congestion created by the lock down, the release said.

If there had been an active threat, school system and town communication channels would have informed the community of what to do, the release said

This story was originally published September 6, 2019 at 1:42 PM.