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Mission College Locked Down After Cardboard Cutout Mistaken For Gun

SANTA CLARA (CBS SF) -- Santa Clara's Mission College went into lockdown for about 45 minutes this afternoon after a cardboard cutout of a gun was mistaken for the real thing, a school spokesman said.

As part of a sociology of criminology class project where students were to dress up as criminals, one student wore a ski mask and carried a cardboard cutout of a gun, school spokesman Peter Anning said.

The student was taking pictures before the class began when another student panicked and called Santa Clara police at 2:47 p.m. to report a person with a gun, he said.

Mission College went into lockdown at 2:53 p.m.

Police located and spoke with the student, and the lockdown was lifted about 45 minutes later, Anning said.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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