Rumors of a student with a gun at Escambia County Middle School spread like wildfire Friday afternoon, but the alleged incident turned out to be much tamer.

School officials were alerted to a possible gun and drugs on campus Friday, but the result of the search turned up neither banned item.

Items that to the naked eye could have been a gun or drugs are what were found at the school, ECMS Principal Linda Shuford said.

“What we found was a cigarette lighter shaped like a gun,” she said. “It didn’t even have any lighter fluid in it. As for the possible drugs, our resource officer checked into the bag that was found, and he determined it to be pencil shavings covered with what is believed to be peppermint.”

Calls from parents were taken by the school following the spread of the incident on Facebook.

With the incident now behind the school, parents need to know they will be contacted in case of a serious incident, Shuford said.

“Anytime we have an incident on campus, we take it seriously and check it out to the fullest extent,” she said. “We have our resource officer on campus, and he is always prepared to investigate and assist us with anything. We will also inform our parents of anything that goes on our school’s grounds.”