Students and faculty at Elizabeth High School were placed on lockdown for nearly two hours Thursday after receiving an email claiming that there was a gun and drugs on campus.

The threat was later deemed a hoax and parents were allowed to pick up their children, Child Welfare, Attendance and Transportation Supervisor Kenney Courville said.

“It was an email that went out to some faculty members and it had to be treated with respect at that point in time,” Courville said. “The good thing is it was a hoax.”

The email was sent by someone posing as a teacher saying there was a gun and drugs on campus and to send help, he said.

Allen Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Chief Deputy Blake Fontenot said the email was sent from a staff member’s email account.

“At this point in time we are working with the School Board to determine the IP address the email originated from,” Fontenot said. “It looks like it originated from the school and we are trying to narrow down the exact IP address and its locations to determine where the computer was at that time and who was on it.”

Courville said all safety protocols for a school threat were followed and the school was later secured after no weapon was found on campus.

“It was a big ole false alarm,” Courville said. “Just enough to get everybody’s blood pressure and anxiety up.”

Fontenot said no other problems were reported at any other schools and the incident appears to be an isolated incident.