A shelter in place order for Topsham schools was lifted Wednesday afternoon, several hours after a Mt. Ararat High School student fled the building before classes began.

Superintendent Heidi O’Leary posted a notice to the Maine School Administrative District 75 website around noon, alerting students and families that the student had been located and was in the care of his family.

The Sagahadoc County Emergency Management Agency identified the student in an alert as a 16-year-old boy who was seen leaving the school around 9 a.m.

Topsham police and the Sagahadoc County Sheriff’s Office searched for the student, who left behind personal belongings at the school “that might have suggested the intent to run away,” O’Leary wrote in a notice around 10 a.m. These items included a hatchet, hunting knife, personal documents and food.

In a second update around 10:45 a.m., she said the district was collaborating with the student’s family.

Topsham police Chief Marc Hagan said officers were concerned for the student’s safety until he was found a few miles away from the school, walking along the Cathance River Trail system. Hagan said the student’s father made contact with his son, then the department found him by pinging his phone.

Because the high school is near Mt. Ararat Middle School and other elementary schools, he said, the whole school district was ordered to shelter in place out of an abundance of caution.

O’Leary said in a news release that there was no indication that the student was a threat, but the shelter-in-place order was precautionary to “prioritize the safety of our students, staff, and school community” while police worked to locate him.