ALLEN - A police standoff in Allen placed two nearby schools on lockdown Thursday.

Ford Middle School and Roundtree Elementary students were not allowed to walk home due to a standoff at a nearby home on Monroe Street.

SWAT officers have surrounded the home and are in the midst of working to get a man who barricaded himself inside to come out.

Parents were asked to pick up students who normally walk home from school.

The incident began after a man called police and said he had barricaded himself inside a house with a gun and was planning on killing himself.

Many parents expressed frustration by they way the lockdown was handled.

"The elementary school was having the same issue and I had to get two of my younger children, and it was so chaotic," said Tammy Chappell, an Allen mother. "The parents were coming out running and just telling us what was going on."

While some parents said there was confusion about what was going on, the Allen Independent School District said they did use their automated system for the very first time during the incident. The system notified the 830 parents of students at Ford Middle School. Roundtree Elementary parents said they were not notified.