Multiple police officers responded to a Simi Valley elementary school Tuesday after two students brought "very realistic" toy guns to campus, authorities said.
Two students, ages 9 and 10, both brought the fake "airsoft type handguns" on a school bus headed to Santa Susana Elementary School, according to the Simi Valley Police Department.
Another student saw the guns and notified school authorities, police said. Police responded to a call of a possible student with a gun at 8:12 a.m.
"The School Resource Officer was able to determine that the children brought the items to school to show each other and no one else," the police department said in a press release. "Further, their actions were in no way related to any threat of violence or any other malicious behavior."
The students were "counseled," then released to their parents, whom police said had no knowledge their children had brought guns to school. They were immediately suspended from school.
The department noted that the guns were very realistic and could have been mistaken as real guns by a civilian or police officer.
"In the wake of the recent tragic events in Newtown Connecticut, the Simi Valley Police Department would like to encourage parents to pay close attention to what items their children bring to school," the department said in its statement. "Also encourage your children to be mindful of any item or action that can be construed as threatening, violent, or harmful."
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Santa Susana Elementary School, along with Pinecrest School, was also placed on lockdown for a brief time on Tuesday after police responded to a call of a suspicious subject in the area, authorities said.
Police said the person was "possibly wanted for a felony warrant," but the suspect was not found and the school returned to normal operations.
