SAN DIEGO -- A group of residential burglary suspects scrambled onto the grounds of Madison High School Friday while fleeing police, prompting a lockdown of the Clairemont-area campus as officers did a building-by-building search.

Officers responding to a report of a possible break-in at a home on Limerick Avenue about 10:15 a.m. arrived to see four teenage boys or young men bolting from the property, San Diego police spokesman Jim Johnson said.

The officers gave chase as the suspects ran through back yards, jumped fences and sprinted onto the nearby campus, Johnson said. The school's administrators responded to the possible threat by directing teachers to keep students inside their classes and lock their doors.

Within minutes, police had three of the alleged burglars in custody. Officers then searched through the school classrooms one-by-one, finding no sign of the fugitive.

School police, however, reported shortly before 11:30 a.m. that they had a possible fourth suspect in custody, Johnson said. The lockdown was lifted a short time later.

The arrestees' names were not immediately available.