COLCHESTER — Police say a report of a man with a rifle near two schools in Colchester turned out to be a false alarm.

Police received information Thursday afternoon about two students who said they saw a man holding what appeared to be a rifle in the woods near the Mallets Bay School.

Police put that school and Colchester Middle School on lockdown while they searched the area.

They later found a man surveying property near the area. He was wearing clothing similar to what the students described and was carrying surveying tools that may have been mistaken for a firearm. He had no weapons.