BATON ROUGE — The Howell Community Park's pool will be closed until further notice after multiple children armed with guns scaled the park's fence over the weekend, BREC said Tuesday.

BREC said that around 10 a.m. Sunday, four children between the ages of eight and 12 jumped the fence, got into the pool unsupervised and roamed around the pool deck while two of them were armed with handguns. The minors roamed the area until around 11 a.m. when a staff member came to open the pool for its regular noon hours. 

The juveniles ran off when staff members entered the building, a spokesperson for BREC said.

"The decision to close the pool was made to ensure the safety of all visitors and to allow for a thorough assessment of the situation. BREC is committed to maintaining a safe environment for its community and will continue to evaluate the circumstances surrounding the incident," BREC officials said.

Officials added that this is not the first time people have jumped the fence after hours since the pool opened in June. 

A community meeting discussing a solution to prevent similar instances in the future has been set for July 28 at 5:30 p.m. at Howell Community Park.

The goal, a spokesperson said, is to reopen the pool before the end of the summer, but the pool will remain closed until the situation is under control.