Stissing Mountain High School

Police in New York State say a person has been taken into custody after holding a northern New York high school principal hostage on Tuesday morning.

The drama took place at the Stissing Mountain High School in Pine Plains, NY, about 90 miles north of New York CityThe man reportedly held the teacher in a classrom for several hours before he was arrested.

The drama took place at the Stissing Mountain High School in Pine Plains, about 90 miles north of New York City.

It started just after the school opened at 7.45am local time.

Around 100 police officers were sent to the scene including a Swat team from the Dutchess County Sheriff's Department.

Town supervisor Gregg Pulver said the gunman was an adult who had attended the school in the 1980s.

"There are some, as you can tell, lots of stories going around - I don't know that any can be confirmed - why he did it," he said. Mr Pulver said the school was closed and all the students were safe.

"He is in custody, he has given himself up. No gunshots fired," he told CNN television.

"The students are safe. We have a good outcome."

Stissing Mountain has around 500 pupils and 100 teachers.

It was not immediiately clear if the principal was from the high school or the middle school.