Man firing at squirrel puts school on lockdown, Cocoa police say

COCOA, Fla. — A Cocoa man who said he was trying to get rid of squirrels in his attic, inadvertently put a nearby school on lockdown, police said.

A neighbor in the 1200 block of Yale Lane heard someone firing shots around 8:30 a.m. Thursday, police said.

Police closed off nearby streets and put Cambridge Elementary School on lockdown as a precautionary measure, investigators said.

About 90 minutes later, police spoke to a man who said he had a BB gun and was trying to get rid of problem squirrels who were getting into his attic, police said.

The scene was cleared and the school lockdown was lifted, police said.

"We responded the way were trained and it turned out not to be a threat," Cocoa Police Department Det. Debra Titkanich said. "The citizen absolutely did the right thing in calling. We want people to immediately report suspicious activity so we can make sure everything is safe. If they don't and this had turned out to be something more, not reporting it could have had a different outcome that could have potentially been tragic."

Cox Media Group