In Newport News (VA), someone wandered into Warwick High School with a gun. Summer session was over and school was out, but office staff and employees signaled the alarm when they saw someone with a gun. Police were summoned, as was the Fire Department bomb squad. The surrounding neighborhood filled up with first responders ready for another Columbine-esque standoff. (I bet it looked like the Wild West.)

So who was the cause of the panic? Who was the depraved gunman who stalked the halls of Warwick High School? It was apparently a plainclothes policewoman.

As members of the tactical team were preparing to take positions around the school off Warwick Boulevard, officers were on the phone with the woman, who by then had left the building, police spokesman Lou Thurston said.

"Once we got a good description from the witness, we had a pretty good idea who it might be," he said. He said the possibility that they were wrong necessitated the heavy response.

Thurston wouldn't identify the officer, other than say she was in plainclothes and went to the school on personal business.

[Michelle Morgan, spokesman for Newport News schools] said the aide who saw the holstered pistol didn't see a badge, which according to Officer Harold Eley, violates department policy. The policy states the weapon must be concealed when in public, or the officer's badge must be visible next to the weapon.

"She had no identification that let the employee know she was a police officer," Morgan said.