New Caney ISD schools placed under lockdown

HOUSTON White Oak Middle School and Bens Branch Elementary School were both affected by the lockdown Friday.

Around 2:40pm, Houston police began chasing a car in the 20000 block of Kingwood Drive and followed the two suspects inside north to Porter. The chase stopped in front of the schools at Briar Timber and Briar Berry. A female suspect was taken into custody, but a male suspect fled the scene, prompting school officials to issue the lockdown.

White Oak Middle School had already dismissed at 2:30, but students who were there for after school were forced indoors.

Bens Branch Elementary, which dismisses at 3:45pm, allowed its students to leave at the end of the school day via a "controlled release," under which students are escorted by school or police authorities to their busses or parents' cars.

Several law enforcement agencies combed through the area until the suspect was finally caught shortly before 5pm.

The identity of either suspect has not been released. It wasn't immediately clear what sparked the police pursuit.