A two-county search for four suspects put Hartland schools in "secure mode" this morning, a school official confirmed.

According to Assistant Superintendent Scott VanEpps, every Hartland school was secured in a way to protect the students, and the staff was “vigilant of any outside suspicious activity," but the buildings were not considered to be in “lock-down."

The security measure was in response to an incident that took place early Friday morning, involving four suspects police were pursuing through Genesee and Livingston counties.

“Our school district responded to an event that was unfolding in Livingston County to the north of us,” VanEpps said. 

Based on information the school received from the Livingston County Sheriff’s Department and the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department, police were searching for four individuals between the hours of 1 a.m. and 4 a.m.

“We learned that two of the individuals they were pursuing were not apprehended at the time and unaccounted for,” VanEpps said. “We utilized in our buildings a secure mode.”

The secure mode, which was placed through all the schools in the district, was lifted at 9:30 a.m., according to Van Epps, because of information received from the Genesee Sheriff’s Department that the “threat was no longer.”

Livingston County sheriff Bob Bezotte confirmed that the sheriff's departments had been seeking four individuals, but was unable to confirm the status of the suspects, since it was a Genesee County case.