Niceville High School Goes on Brief Lockdown. Here’s What Happened:

Niceville High School’s administrators put out the all-clear just minutes after initiating a lockdown on Tuesday morning.

Niceville Principal Charlie Marello told Mid Bay News in a phone conversation the school took the action after a student saw another student with a rifle on campus.

Marello said the student had an air rifle that they were moving from one place to another in their duties as a member of the JROTC.

Once the situation was understood, the lockdown was lifted. This is the third lockdown-related issue in Niceville in the last 12 months.

Last April, Plew Elementary School went on lockdown after a message from the Okaloosa County School District Public Information Officer, Catherine Card, called the first-ever “instance of a miscommunication” with their app, supplied by the vendor Apptegy, sent to parents in error.

In August of 2025, Plew was again placed in lockdown after a suspect fleeing Niceville PD scaled the school fence, ran through the school’s property, and scaled another fence to leave.

Earlier this month, Okaloosa Academy, a Fort Walton Beach Charter School was placed on lockdown after reports of gunfire in the area of the school’s campus.

An earlier version of this story said the third lockdown took place at Fort Walton Beach High School. It took place at Okaloosa Academy. We regret the error.

This is a developing story. We’ll keep you posted as we get more information.