WEYMOUTH — Weymouth High School was placed on lockdown for an hour Thursday after a student was overheard in the hallway saying he had a weapon.
The threat prompted school officials to shut down the building, keeping students in darkened, locked classrooms and storage closets, and urging them to stay quiet. Police arrived on the scene in force, students said, with guns drawn.
School officials said officers quickly apprehended the student and determined he was not armed. He was taken into custody, and classes resumed. No one was injured.
“Weymouth police located the student within 10 minutes and they determined there was no weapon,” said Kenneth Salim, superintendent of Weymouth’s school district. Salim said students and a teacher overheard the student say he had a weapon, and immediately notified administrators.
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House Speaker Robert DeLeo was judging a mock trial at the school when it was locked down, and spent an hour in a crowded storage room.
“No one was allowed to move,” said DeLeo. He praised officials for their response, saying they were clearly well prepared. “I thought they did a spectacular job,” he said.
Students said they were rushed into secure rooms and told to stay quiet. Marisa Picariello, a junior who was in chemistry class, said her group was taken into a storage area.
“We had to lock those doors, too, and stay quiet,” Picariello said. “We kept hearing noises, like doorknobs shaking and stuff, but we couldn’t do anything about it. I was just really scared and didn’t know what was going on.’’
Picariello said her mother was texting her to find out what was happening, “but I couldn’t really answer that much.”
Several students said the youth taken into custody had told another student he had a gun during an altercation.
Students said the reaction of teachers and school security made it clear the situation was being taken seriously. When they saw police descend on the school, some feared the worst.
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“It was absolutely frightening,’’ said Donovan Wirtanen, a 17-year-old junior. “You hear all these stories about kids shooting up schools. You have no choice but to be scared.’’
Kevin Lynch, a freshman, said he was leaving the cafeteria when security guards rushed in and ordered students into a back corner. They later were moved into a side closet.
“They said no one come out, and then it got real scary,’’ Lynch said. “They shut off the lights. ‘Everybody be quiet. Don’t come out no matter what.’ It was just scary.”
The lockdown ended around 1 p.m., and many students left for the day. Parents who had heard the news were there to meet them.
“I was a nervous wreck,” said Jennifer Kabachus. Her daughter, Meredith, said she and other students had no idea what led to the lockdown, but immediately knew it wasn’t an idle precaution. “They wouldn’t do something like that if it wasn’t serious,’’ she said.
Student Shane Adams said the sight of police rushing into the building was frightening, given the history of school shootings nationwide. “After I saw the rifles and the shotguns getting pulled out, it got real scary, real quick,” he said.
Globe correspondent Aneri Pattani contributed to this report. Peter Schworm can be reached at schworm@ globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @globepete.