PALESTINE, TX (KLTV) -
The Westwood Independent School District in Palestine was put on temporary lockdown Tuesday morning after officials saw a bleeding man on the school grounds.
Around 9:15 a.m., officers from the Palestine Police Department responded to a report of shots fired in the area of 2305 Salt Works Road.
Westwood ISD's superintendent says the school immediately went into lockdown.
"We received a call that the police department was at our elementary school and that there had been an intruder enter into our playground area and that they wanted our schools to go into lockdown," says Ed Lyman, Westwood ISD superintendent.
When officers arrived on the scene, they detained a man on school grounds, who said he had been the victim of an aggravated assault in the residential area northeast of the Westwood Elementary on Bassett Road, north of Salt Works Road.
The man told police he was running from an altercation and cut through the school's property to get away. He also said he believed someone was shooting at him.
The victim was transported by EMS to a local hospital for a minor injury to his hand, but police do not believe it was a gunshot wound.
The man did not have a weapon on him, nor did officers locate a weapon in the surrounding area of the school premises.
According to Anderson County Sheriff Greg Taylor, no shots were ever fired.
"There was talk that there was some shots fired, we're finding out now, there were no shots fired," says Taylor.
Taylor says the man was bitten by a pit bull during the incident a couple of blocks from the school and ran to the school.
The Palestine Police Department shortly thereafter assisted the Anderson County Sheriff's Office in an investigation of the activities occurring at a residence in the area, which is believed to be tied to the report of the earlier assault.
A detective with the police department said the school, "was never in any danger." The school went on lockdown as a precautionary measure.
Still, some families decided to pick students up early.
"A lot of parents just feel more comfortable taking their kids out for the day, make sure their little nerves are ok," says Patrice Edington, a grandmother of a student at the school.
The school's superintendent says the school was prepared to handle this incident.
"We follow the Texas school safety center ... and we are actually doing an after action assessment today because there are some things that we can improve," Lyman says.
Palestine Independent School District was on lockdown from about 9:10 to 10:30 a.m., according to the Superintendents' office.
The Anderson County Sheriff's Office says they investigated the area where the assault occurred and arrested one man for possession of marijuana. It is not clear if the man arrested was involved in the assault that led to the school lockdown.
The Sheriff's office also say evidence of an assault was retrieved at a home near the school.
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