The report of several shots fired in Midtown St. Joseph prompted school district officials to lock down schools in the area.

The initial reports of shots fired came from the 3000 block of Seneca, in reference to a house across the alley on Penn Street. Several people in the neighborhood reported hearing the shots. There have been no reports of injuries.

St. Joseph School District officials took the precaution of locking down the Keatley Center, Truman Middle School and Mark Twain Elementary.

“All activities at Keatley are cancelled, until further notice,” according to a news release. “As parents drop off at Mark Twain, we ask that students go directly inside the building. This is due to a police situation in the area and is strictly precautionary. Students are all safe.”

St. Francis Xavier was also placed on lockdown status.  The lockdowns were lifted about 45 minutes later.

Harold Shelton and his son were preparing for a garage sale about a block away when they heard the shots.

“We thought they were firecrackers, but they were like, maybe five minutes apart,” Shelton said in an interview.

“And, my son asked me ‘was that shots?’, and I said ‘well this day and age you can’t tell,’ but I said ‘I think it was just firecrackers.'”

By about 8:30, Penn Street was still blocked off and several officers were waiting outside the house.

Captain Jeff Wilson of the St. Joseph Police Department confirms that officers took a white male suspect into custody, and recovered a .45 calibre handgun. Wilson says at least one shot was fired, and possibly more. Investigators don’t know why the shots were fired. They had not yet collected any evidence of damage or injury.