Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said multiple calls were made to police about 1.20pm, and staff at East Taieri Primary School and East Taieri Preschool across the road, put all the pupils into lockdown until police gave the all-clear.
An East Taieri School teacher said a member of the public had called to alert them to "someone acting suspiciously at the cemetery".
"So, as a precaution, we just followed our lockdown procedure and called the police.
"The kids were great, and everyone handled it really well," she said.
Snr Sgt Bond said officers arrived a short time later and apprehended a 72-year-old man with an air rifle at the cemetery.
"He had recently purchased it and he decided to go out to the cemetery to have a play around with it.
"Obviously, he didn’t realise the implications of doing that — walking around in a public area with what looks like a firearm."
Snr Sgt Bond said officers searched the man’s car and his house and found no other firearms.
He said the man was not arrested or charged. Instead, he was spoken to and given information about firearms use.
The school and the preschool were notified as soon as the situation was clarified.
He said the incident struck fear into many residents in the area at the time.
"We’ve had a couple of 111 calls from it, so yes, it did cause fear in the community.
"But I think it was an honest mistake by a man who was not thinking of the wider consequences," he said.
"This is a reminder to everyone who has imitation firearms or air rifles, that you obviously need to use them appropriately.
"We’re thankful to those members of the public that contacted us, because we’d rather deal with it as a serious incident and work it out at that time."
Fortunately, no-one was hurt during the incident, he said.
