False Code Red at Cupertino High School

A Code Red alert set in motion around 8:25 a.m. Monday at turned out to be a false alarm, according to officials.

“One of our custodians spotted a student crouched down behind a car in the parking lot, putting what appeared to be a weapon into his bag. We immediately went into a secure-in-place scenario and called the sheriff’s department,” wrote Kami Tomberlain, principal at Cupertino High School in an email message to parents.

The weapons turned out to be Nerf guns, according to Sgt. Jose Cardoza, spokesman for Santa Clara County Sheriff’s department.

After the call came in and police were on their way to the school, a school staff member approached one of the students to ask what it was he had in his backpack, Cardoza said.

That’s when it was discovered that it was a Nerf gun. A group of students play some kind of “Nerf wars” game on their own time and brought their toy guns to school, Cardoza said.

The call came in to police around 8:25 a.m. and the whole incident was over in about 12 minutes, Cardoza said.

The multiple units racing to the school stirred curiosity and concern.

“On the way to drop off my kids at elementary school, we saw 10 sheriffs with lights flashing and sirens blaring all headed in the direction of Cupertino High,” wrote Patch reader Steve Lemke asking for more details.

There were no citations or arrests were made and the matter is now an administrative concern to the school, Cardoza said.