Rockmart High School in Polk County, Ga., went into a lockdown drill after tensions broke out over a Confederate battle flag on campus, Fox 5 Atlanta reports.
It reportedly began when a 10th-grade boy came to school with the infamous flag decorating his backpack.
"He got dropped off out of his truck and came down the sidewalk just like any other student does," Rockmart Principal Wesley Cupp told the news station.
The student, who was white, continued to walk through the cafeteria before school started onto the courtyard, where he was met by two black students.
"They wanted to confront him about what he had on his book bag … like, 'Man, why you doing that?' " the principal explained.
A small scuffle ensued, with some shoving and an exchange of words, but staff quickly brought it under control, the principal said. No weapons were found, and all three students were suspended for disruption.
"When you become a distraction where students can't learn because of a distraction, then that needs to be removed," Cupp said.
Later that morning, however, rumors started to spread about other students bringing in Confederate battle flags, prompting the school to go into the lockdown drill.
"We just did that as a precautionary situation to help maintain and control what could have been a bad situation," Cupp told Fox 5 Atlanta.
The principal also said that the students, upon returning to school, will be offered counseling to help ease tensions.
Read more at Fox 5 Atlanta.