Loaded Gun Magazine Found In Softball Dugout Of Quabbin Regional High School

BARRE (CBS) - Parents from Quabbin Regional Middle and High School are relieved, after a loaded gun magazine with seven to eight rounds was found on one of the school's athletic fields Monday morning.

"I'm just thankful it didn't turn out to be a tragedy today," said one parent.

An automated phone call from Quabbin Regional School District Superintendent Maureen Marshall went out to parents some time after 9 a.m.

"I got the phone call and naturally my heart started to race and I got very nervous and anxious," said parent Debbie Walker. "You think about it not just a day like today when you get a call, but you think about it all the time."

More than 1,100 middle and high school students sheltered in place for more than three hours, as teachers followed lock-down protocol.

"The teachers know to pull their shades, keep their students in the room, and they continue teaching," said Quabbin Regional High School Principal Greg Devine.

Meanwhile police made sure the campus was safe.

"They did a search with K-9 units around the perimeter of the school and into the softball fields," said Devine. "It was an extensive search both inside and outside the building"

No other weapons or ammunition was found, but the search for answers isn't over yet.

The investigation is now in the hands of the school resource officer who returns to work Tuesday and will look into why the magazine was on school grounds, and who put it there.