South Canberra schools in lockdown

A call was made to police about 1.40pm reporting a man with a firearm in the area of Manuka Shops and Red Hill.

Following the call, police advised four schools in the area to go into lockdown, including Canberra Grammar, Red Hill Primary School, St Clare's and St Edmund's College.

But police have since said they were investigating the call as a hoax, after no firearm was found and a 25-year-old man was arrested at Red Hill on an unrelated warrant.

Students described the whole experience as terrifying, as they were told to stay in classrooms and avoid the doors and windows.

''We were in class and it got announced over the PA we had to move into a part of the classroom where we can't be seen from the door or anywhere, and we just had to stay there until further notice,'' St Edmund's year 11 student Ben Gordon said.

Classmate Ryan Bol said his class was ''going off like a bag of cats" when the call first came through.

"It was mayhem, absolute mayhem, then everyone had to calm down," he said.

"Our teacher is the director of pastoral care here and he was the one that told everyone to lock the doors and go away from the line of sight. I realised [it wasn't a drill] when he got called out of class and said, 'Don't move a muscle, get out of the line of sight because I'm serious'.

"Everyone was freaking out, everyone was real scared."

Principals of Canberra Grammar School and St Edmund's said they knew very little about why the lockdown was put in place, and just followed the advice of police.

St Edmund's deputy principal Peter Milligan said they had only been told there was a "suspicious character" in the area.

The lockdown was lifted about 3pm and parents were able to pick up their children from school as normal.

Nearby schools, including Narrabundah College, St Benedict's, St Bede's and Telopea Park School did not go into lockdown.

The arrested man was taken to the ACT Watch House to answer a First Instance Warrant and police wouldn't say what he had been charged with. But a spokesperson for ACT Policing said the man was the subject of the original phone call.

ACT Policing acting Superintendent Joanne Cameron said police had shut down all schools that were along the route between Manuka Shops and Red Hill flats - both areas that were related to the original phone call.

When asked why the public was not informed about the details of the lockdown for close to an hour, she said police's first priority was responding to the incident.

''Police are wholly focused on responding to what was a very serious incident with a firearm. In that case, secondary concerns are getting that information out to the community,'' she said.

Superintendent Cameron said there had been close collaboration with the Department of Education during the incident.

She said she was not personally aware of any parents raising concerns.

''The opportunity to collaborate with the department in this regard is not something we wish to do, but to test these procedures in a live situation and see the collaboration come together as it did is very, very comforting for the community,'' she said.

Association of Parents and Friends of ACT Schools executive officer Julie Sengelman said she was pleased with the frequent communication from affected schools.

Ms Sengelman has a son at Canberra Grammar and was contacted by email as soon as the lockdown occurred.

''Obviously it's a concern when you're a parent, you want to know what's going on so any information is key,'' she said. ''From the school's point of view, they provided any information they had and updated the parents as necessary.

Ms Sengelman said police had acted appropriately throughout the entire incident.

''As a parent you just want to know your kids are OK and you can go and pick them up. The other information is a conversation for afterwards,'' she said.

The warning was not extended to public outside the four schools, except for a loud piercing alarm that Red Hill residents reported hearing from Canberra Grammar.