A Florida man hunting iguanas with a pellet gun got mistaken for a possible shooter, prompting two schools to go on lockdown, according to local reports.

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s got a call about a man with a rifle prowling the area near a middle school and an elementary school in Rotonda West Tuesday afternoon and sent dozens of deputies, the Port Charlotte Sun reported.

Students at L.A. Ainger Middle School were told they were on lockdown and this was “not a drill,” according to the newspaper. Nearby Vineland Elementary was also put on lockdown.

A man matching the suspect’s description was found a few hundred yards from the school campuses.

As some deputies questioned the suspected gunman, others searched both campuses, room by room, using a SWAT team, at least one K-9 unit and a helicopter overhead.

But the man turned out to be local animal trapper Roy Wathen, who said he’d been hired to get rid of invasive iguanas from the area and was carrying an air-powered BB gun.

“Deputies educated him on the proper procedures to take prior to hunting,” the sheriff’s department said in a press release. They then gave him a trespass warning and let him go.

In a post on his Facebook page, Wathen, 35, wrote: “I always thought my 15 minutes of fame would be for something good I have done for our community, not a major misunderstanding.”

“Hopefully this does not negatively impact my business as people that know me know that I was just trying to provide for my family,” he wrote.

“Thank you to all of my friends that… reached out to help with no questions asked, knowing that I would never have committed a violent crime against children or harm anyone for that matter.”