Rumors that a shooting was going to take place at Union Pines High School Tuesday morning turned out to be unfounded, according to school officials.

The rumor prompted the school system to take precautionary measures. Tim Lussier, spokesman for the Moore County school system, said school officials started receiving calls from concerned parents that text messages had been going around indicating that "there was some sort of threat" to students at the school.

Callers to The Pilot indicated that the threat was that a shooting was going to take place. Lussier said school officials had not seen any of those text messages.

In a Connect-Ed telephone message and e-mail to parents of students at the school, Principal Robin Lea said the rumors had been investigated.

"I want you to know that at no time were there any threats conveyed to anyone at our school," Lea said in the message. "We take all of these situations very seriously, and this rumor was checked thoroughly by our staff and the Moore County Schools Special Police and the Moore County Sheriff's Department.

"As a precaution during our investigation, we did increase additional safety measures; however, at no time were Union Pines students in any danger."

Lussier said that the school day continued uninterrupted.