5:20 update The children have been released from the school and moved to nearby Antioch Middle School so they can safely return home with  parents.

 

4 pm. GLADSTONE, Mo. (AP) — An elementary school in the Kansas City suburb of Gladstone has been locked down after police reported hearing gunshots nearby, possibly at an area home.

Kansas City police responded around 1:15 p.m. Friday to help Gladstone officers search the area. Police closed some streets, and about 1:25 p.m. they heard more shots they believed came from a nearby home.

Police surrounded a house shortly before 3 p.m. It’s unclear whether anyone was shot.

Parents at the elementary school were notified of the lockdown by email and message alerts sent by North Kansas City School District officials.

District spokeswoman Mary Jo Burton says the students were being kept in the building until police and district security tell them it’s safe to leave.