CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Reca was glad to see her two girls when police finally cleared a SWAT situation at University Park Creative Arts Elementary School Tuesday afternoon.

Her daughters are in the after-school program there and were just two of more than 20 children on lockdown for almost an hour.

Police tracked a bank robbery suspect to the west Charlotte neighborhood and thought he may have hidden in the school.

Reca said, "I was panicking. I didn't know what was happening. You know if my girls were safe. You know where was he at."

Charlotte Mecklenburg School officials said they didn't tell parents what happened until police cleared the scene because their first priority is cooperating with police.

"When any situation like this happens, that's the first thing we do is make sure our students are safe and during this situation we're working with police to make sure that happens," said CMS spokesperson Cynthia Robbins.

CMS did immediately begin notifying parents through their Connect-Ed system, which sends an automated message to each home.

They also fielded several calls during the lockdown from concerned parents who called the school.

But that's little comfort to Reca, who had to hear what happened from her daughters' carpool driver.

"They may have called home but I'm not at home during the day. I'm at work," she said.