Parents were left fearing for the safety of their children on Monday as several schools in Perth’s south east were sent into lockdown due to a hunt for an armed gunman.

Schools in the area were slow to react when a residence on Dorothy Street was shot at about 9.30am and police shut down streets in Gosnells in an attempt to find the stolen car linked with the incident.

Despite police information an armed offender was in the neighbourhood, several parents said they were forced to contact the schools of their children to find out more when news broke about the manhunt.

Although some parents heard police sirens as they dropped their children off at school, they were unaware of the “dangerous situation” and weren’t advised what was going on.